Nepal, Dec. 29 -- Myanmar's dominant pro-military party is "winning a majority" in the first phase of junta-run elections, a party source told AFP on Monday, after democracy watchdogs warned the poll would entrench military rule.

The armed forces snatched power in a 2021 coup, but on Sunday opened voting in a phased month-long election they pledge will return power to the people.

The massively popular but dissolved National League for Democracy (NLD) of democratic figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi did not appear on ballots, and she remains jailed since the military putsch which triggered a civil war.

Campaigners, Western diplomats and the United Nations' rights chief have condemned the vote -- citing a stark crackdown on dissent and a candid...