Myanmar junta officially nullifies November elections

MYANMAR, July 28: Myanmar's junta-appointed election commission has officially nullified November elections in which the military-affiliated party fared dismally and Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) secured a resounding win. 

The military cried foul that the elections were marred by widespread fraud, Kyodo News reported. The nullification is being considered as a prelude to a dissolution order for the formerly ruling party. The Aung San Suu Kyi's government was toppled by the military just hours before the newly-elected lawmakers were supposed to be seated in parliament on February 1. 

After the coup, the military appointed an election commission, which claimed that the NLD exploited coronavirus-related restrictions to its advantage and attempted to grab power by obstructing the activities of the other political parties. 

Later, the military had announced that the November elections would be nullified and new elections will be held. 

The election commission said that in all 315 townships where voting was held, a total of over 11.3 million cases of fraud had occurred, including voter list irregularities, Kyodo News reported. 

Following the defeat of its affiliated party -- the Union Solidarity and Development Party in the November elections, the military demanded that suspected election fraud be investigated. 

It said it mounted the coup because the then ruling NLD-led government did not listen to its calls.