Myanmar's Parliament will has convened for the first in the five years since the current military administration seized power five years ago ousting Nobel winner Aung San Suu Kyi.
Myanmar's army maintains power and influence in the country after phased elections held over December 2025 and January this year which elected 75% of the parliamentarians.
A quarter of the upper and lower house seats are mandated to be held by serving military officials, in accordance with the 2008 constitution which the army drafted.
The army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party topped the polls, winning 81% of available seats. The election had no viable opposition and turnout was low.
USDP chairman and retired brigadier-general Khin Yi was elected lower house speaker on Monday with Western countries calling the latest elections a sham and a way of helping the controversial military leaders regain legitmacy.
Millions of citizens in Myanmar, ranked one of South-east Asia's poorest countries, have been left starving and in a severe humanitarian crisis since the army ousted the previous administration who was taking office for a second term under Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
They accused Suu Kyi of electoral fraud but presented no evidence. International observers noted no irregularities.
The junta previously suppressed information about the severe food crisis and pressured researchers not to collect data about hunger. They also pressed aid workers to not publish their work and cracked down on journalists reporting.
Around half of the population live below the poverty line with over 3.6 million displaced and at least 6,800 killed in the conflict since the start of the coup. It's expected more than 12 million people will face acute hunger next year, according to the UN World Food Programme.
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