Myanmar Junta Sets January Deadline for Controversial Election Results

TDT | Naypyidaw

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An official from Myanmar's military-controlled election commission announced on Thursday that the results of the country’s upcoming and widely disputed national election are expected by the end of January next year.

Since the military ousted democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, Myanmar has been engulfed in civil conflict, with the junta alleging — without evidence — widespread electoral fraud. Now, the military is organizing an election it claims could provide a path toward ending the ongoing violence. The vote is scheduled to take place in phases, starting on December 28 and continuing for roughly a month.

At a news conference in the capital, Naypyidaw, which lasted over three hours, officials made no mention of Suu Kyi or her National League for Democracy (NLD), which had won the previous elections by a landslide.

The Union Election Commission (UEC) confirmed that six political parties will contest seats in the national parliament, while 51 regional parties will compete for local assemblies, totaling 57 parties nationwide.

“We have six political parties for nationwide and 51 for regional assemblies. Altogether we have 57 parties contesting in the elections,” UEC member Khin Maung Oo said. The election will be held in three phases, with a two-week interval between each.

Large swathes of Myanmar remain outside military control, governed instead by pro-democracy guerrillas and powerful ethnic armed groups that have vowed to block voting in their territories. “We have about 63 places with security risks,” Khin Maung Oo said, “however we will continue working until we can hold the vote.”

While the junta portrays the election as a route to peace, Suu Kyi, widely popular and now 80 years old, remains imprisoned. International observers and analysts have dismissed the election as a strategy to legitimize ongoing military rule. Conflict monitors warn that the election period could see a rise in violence as the military pushes to extend the vote and opposition forces resist.