Conflict puts planned junta-controlled elections at risk in Chin State

With little time left before scheduled elections in five of Chin State’s nine townships, more than half the state—located in Myanmar’s northwest on the border with India—is still controlled by alliances of armed anti-junta groups. One of the alliances, the Chin Brotherhood, is made up of resistance groups formed since the military takeover in 2021. The other, the Chinland Council, is led by the long-established Chin National Front and its armed wing, the Chin National Army. Mindat, Matupi, and Kanpetlet in southern Chin State—held by the Chin Brotherhood—and Paletwa Township, under AA control, are not among the townships designated for the election. 28 parliamentary seats will be contested in the upcoming, regime-managed elections, with 83 candidates from various junta-approved parties competing, including the military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and People’s Pioneer Party, as well as local parties such as the New Chinland Congress (NCC), Zomi National Party (ZNP), and Khumi National Party. The USDP is the only party that will compete in all constituencies throughout the state, according to information released by the regime-controlled Union Election Commission (UEC). The NCC, which is fielding candidates in the second-largest number of constituencies, is headed by Soe Htet, who served as a state-level minister while Myanmar was governed by the civilian-led National League for Democracy (NLD) party, later ousted in the coup of 2021. Anti-election posters seen on the Kale-Tedim-Rih road in the third week of December (Photo: Kalay Township People's Strike Steering Committee)" A former lieutenant colonel in the Myanmar army, Soe Htet was Minister of Municipal Affairs, Industry, and Electricity, later winning a legislative seat in Paletwa Township in 2020 as an NLD member. The NLD expelled him in September 2025 when his candidacy in the military-run election was announced. Soe Htet is standing for one of the seats allocated by proportional representation in the Amyotha Hluttaw—Myanmar's upper parliamentary chamber. Six candidates each from four parties—a total of 24—are competing in the same constituency. Another NCC candidate in that constituency, Pu No Than Kap, is a former member of the Chin National League for Democracy (CNLD), which was dissolved along with the NLD and dozens of other parties nationwide after failing to re-register under new requirements stipulated by the junta in 2023. Chin anti-junta forces and organisations have denounced the junta-led polling as a sham intended to give the military regime a spurious basis for its claims to legitimacy. “The military commission is holding this election to secure a legal position in Myanmar’s politics, but it threatens the long-term stability of our political system and will create even more complex military and political problems,” said Salai Htet Ni, spokesperson for the Chin National Army (CNA). “Whatever they do, we will oppose it to the fullest,” he added. Plans for the phased election The junta’s election will take place in three phrases, each separated from the last by two weeks. Voting is scheduled in 102 of Myanmar’s 330 townships this coming Sunday, December 28, including Hakha and Tedim townships in Chin State. As there are no Chin State townships scheduled to vote in the second phase in mid-January, the junta presumably plans to hold elections in the three remaining townships on the schedule—Falam, Tonzang, and Thantlang—during the third phase in late January. The junta-controlled UEC has yet to announce an exact date for Phase 3. According to information released by the election commission in December, voting will not be possible everywhere even in Hakha and Tedim townships, and will be confined to urban areas under the military authorities’ control. In Hakha Township, voting will not proceed in 29 village tracts or in the two urban wards of the town of Surkhua, but only in the city of Hakha itself, which houses a battalion base and the township’s administrative offices. Similarly, in Tedim Township the election will take place only in the urban wards of Tedim and Khaikam, excluding 55 rural village tracts—most of the rural territory in the township. The confinement of the election to these jurisdictions is likely due to the Chin anti-junta forces’ continued control of major roads and rural area in the state. “Unlike the 2020 election, the upcoming vote will be limited to the city of Hakha,” a representative of the Institute of Chin Affairs, a humanitarian aid group serving Chin State’s displaced people and other civilians in need. “I don’t expect much election activity in Tedim, as PDF Zoland and the Chin Brotherhood have extended their control to the town’s outskirts. Moreover, with Hakha being the capital and having a relatively strong junta presence, only the urban centre is likely to see any voting,” the representative added. Members of the Chin Brotherhood alliance after capturing the Matupi-based Light Infantry Battalion 304 base in June 2024 (Photo: Chin Brotherhood) Only a few campaign events by the USDP and ZNP have taken place in Tedim, according to the resistance-affiliated Tedim Township People’s Administration Team. “Currently, only these two parties are active in Tedim Town. Their activities are mostly limited to putting up vinyl posters, and they have yet to hold any major campaign rallies. Police provide most of their security,” the resistance administrator said, adding that most other activity by the two junta-approved parties in the Tedim election seems to occur online. Opponents of the election have put up their own posters condemning the vote as a sham on the Kale-Tedim-Roh road, a major trade route running to the India-Myanmar border. Poor prospects for the junta’s plan Chin anti-junta forces currently control the town of Falam, some 40 miles north of Hakha, by road, having captured it in April after five months of offensive operations. Junta forces have been trying to retake the town since late October. A coalition of groups, including members of both the Chin Brotherhood and Chinland Council, have so far succeeded in repelling two columns of hundreds of junta ground troops assaulting the town, despite the military’s retaliation with heavy airstrikes. “There are 700 to 800 soldiers arrayed in the two columns,” said Salai Timmy Htut, spokesperson for the Chin National Defence Force (CNDF). “According to our records, they have carried out over 600 airstrikes using Y12 aircraft and fighter jets,” he added. Both the military and anti-junta forces have suffered significant casualties during the two-month battle for Falam, with the junta columns advancing to within about 15 miles of the town. The junta is likely intensifying its efforts to retake Falam because of its strategic importance for keeping control of Hakha and allowing access to to trade on the Indian border, according to Salai Timmy Htut. He also predicted that organising a vote in Falam Township would not prove feasible despite the junta’s plans. The Kale Region Revolutionary Force (KRF), one of the anti-junta groups participating in the battle for Falam (Photo: KRF) “Even if they recapture Falam, holding an election would be impossible due to the absence of civilians,” he said. “In villages like Webula, now occupied by junta forces, only soldiers remain. The resistance will continue to defend Falam if they return.” Tens of thousands of people from more than 50 villages in Falam Township have been forced to flee amid the junta’s offensive and are taking shelter in neighbouring townships like Hakha and Kale, Sagaing Region. In Thantlang, another town where elections are planned, around 20 miles west of Hakha, the junta also has yet to gain full control. Thantlang is entirely populated by military and anti-junta armed personnel since the civilian population deserted the town in late 2021, fleeing arson attacks and fierce battles. “Civilians have not returned to the town, and it is still unsafe for them. Only junta troops and local defence members remain,” said a volunteer helping displaced locals in Thantlang Township. The volunteer added that it will likely be impossible for elections to take place in the rural areas of Thantlang Township, which are controlled by resistance forces, and most civilians show no interest in participating. Election campaign posters for the Zomi National Party (ZNP), which is fielding candidates in 19 constituencies in the upcoming elections in Chin State (Photo: ZNP Facebook) The last township where the junta has scheduled elections, Tonzang, has been under the control of the Chinland Council forces, led by the CNF’s armed wing, the Chin National Army, since May of last year. The junta has launched an unprecedented series of airstrikes on civilian infrastructure in the township, displacing thousands, according to the Chin Human Rights Organisation, which monitors the area. According to data released by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in early December, more than 100,000 of the 3.6 million people displaced by post-coup clashes are residents of Chin State.

Conflict puts planned junta-controlled elections at risk in Chin State

The Myanmar military has stepped up offensive operations in a final bid to exert control in the five Chin townships where elections have been scheduled in the coming weeks

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