Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing suggests plans for a ‘by-election’

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing declared on Tuesday in a meeting with political parties in Naypyitaw that his coup council had already made the necessary “legal amendments” to hold a by-election in Myanmar. Following the 2020 general election, in which the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi won a majority of votes and parliamentary seats, the Myanmar military carried out a coup in February 2021, accusing the party of electoral fraud. The country has been in a junta-imposed state of emergency for more than three years, with the military fighting resistance forces and ethnic armed organisations on multiple fronts nationwide and losing control of hundreds of bases and several cities. Several times since the coup, the regime has announced plans to hold an election, a move widely condemned by the public, the resistance, and members of the international community as illegitimate and neither free nor fair under the illegal military council. However, Russia has said that it would back an election held by the Myanmar military, and signed a memorandum last year pledging cooperation with the junta. Tuesday marked what is believed to be Min Aung Hlaing’s first mention of a so-called by-election, a vote typically held for a specific purpose between general elections, such as to fill vacant seats. The coup leader did not elaborate on what the reason might be for an alleged by-election, when it would be held and where, or what positions might be filled. He also did not specify what legal amendments had been made to justify or facilitate such a poll. He only said that any upcoming vote must “not be like the 2020 general election held by the NLD government.” On January 26, the junta amended the registration requirements for political parties, reducing the minimum number of members required from 100,000 to 50,000, as well as adding further restrictions that would allow the regime to confiscate the property of unregistered parties. The military council also abolished major parties that had not registered in accordance with their rules, such as the NLD and the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy. Ko Ko, the junta’s former religion and culture minister, was appointed as the new chair of the military council’s union election commission after the state of emergency was extended for six more months on February 1, replacing former judge and advocate general Thein Soe. Ko Ko previously chaired Yangon’s regional election commission before elections in 2010 and 2015. Junta officials have previously declared that a national census must be conducted before new elections, which the regime has suggested may be held in 2025. Last August, the military council announced it had started a pilot census in 20 townships in Naypyitaw, Karen State, and Bago and Mandalay regions, with a full census to be carried out this year. Activists have warned that a census by the military would likely be used to further surveil and repress opponents of the coup regime. The junta has said it will introduce an electronic identification system relying on biometric data, an initiative for which they have sought China’s help.

Coup leader Min Aung Hlaing suggests plans for a ‘by-election’

The military chief did not elaborate on why, when, or where a vote would be held, only declaring it would be different from the 2020 election that preceded his attempted seizure of power

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