By Aung Hla Tun
YANGON | Tue Nov 9, 2010 12:21am EST
YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's main pro-democracy parties conceded defeat on Tuesday in the country's first election in 20 years after the biggest military-backed party said it had won up to 80 percent of seats that were up for grabs.
The two largest pro-democracy parties accused the military junta of manipulating Sunday's election, which has been condemned by the United States, Europe and Japan as a sham to entrench military rule under a civilian facade.
The military junta's political juggernaut, Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), closely aligned with junta supremo Than Shwe, has won broadly nationwide, although official results have not yet been released, a senior USDP official said.
He said the party had picked up 75 to 80 percent of seats.
At least six parties have lodged complaints with the election commission, claiming state workers were forced to vote for the USDP in advance balloting.
"We took the lead at the beginning but the USDP later came up with so-called advance votes and that changed the results completely, so we lost," Khin Maung Swe, leader of the National Democratic Force, the largest opposition party, told Reuters.
The second-largest pro-democracy party, the Democratic Party (Myanmar), also conceded defeat.
As the votes were counted, government soldiers cleared ethnic minority rebels from an eastern border town, a Myanmar army officer said, after clashes that sent about 17,000 civilians fleeing to Thailand.
The fighting erupted on Monday, a day after Myanmar's first election in 20 years, which was marked by apathy and marred by accusations of fraud.
"We've been able to clear the town, especially the populated areas," a Myanmar army officer told Reuters in Thailand by telephone from Myawaddy town.
He said 10 people had been killed and about 30 wounded in the clash.
(Additional reporting by Vorasit Satienlerk and Panarat Thepgumpanant; Writing by Robert Birsel and Jason Szep; Editing by Alan Raybould)
Source:http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6A600V20101109
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