Myanmar military positioned to dominate parliament as junta-managed election concludes

While final results have yet to be announced, the military’s dominance of Myanmar’s next parliament was practically assured on Sunday as military authorities oversaw the last phase of a tightly controlled election. In addition to the seats reserved for unelected representatives of the military—a stipulation of Myanmar’s 2008 military-drafted constitution—a parliamentary majority appeared to be within reach for the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), a proxy for the military. Polling places opened in 61 townships across nine regions and states for the election’s third and final phase. The military junta had originally planned to hold the vote in 63 townships but announced on January 20 that it would be cancelled in Kachin State’s Mansi and Momauk townships, citing security concerns. Myanmar’s bicameral legislature consists of an upper house—the Amyotha Hluttaw—and a lower house—the Pyithu Hluttaw—with 25 percent of seats in each house reserved for unelected representatives of the military in accordance with the Myanmar’s military-drafted 2008 constitution. While the number of seats in the Pyithu Hluttaw is set at 440 in the 2008 Constitution, security concerns made elections infeasible in dozens of lower house constituencies. This left only 263 lower house seats to be filled by voting in all three phases of the election and 110 reserved for the military’s representatives, totalling 373. Adding the 224 seats of the upper house, the number of seats to be filled in both houses of parliament was 597, meaning that a party or coalition would have to control more than half—or 299—to form a government. In the first phase in late December, the USDP won 102 seats in the lower house and 21 in the upper house, according to the junta-controlled Union Election Commission (UEC). In the second phase in early January, it secured another 80 lower house seats and 31 upper house seats. Having already won 234 seats in total, the USDP was 65 seats short of a single-party majority. Adding the seats reserved for military representatives brought the total held by the military and its proxies to 400—well over the 299 they would need for control—before the third phase of the election began. Low turnout, heavy security Myanmar Now reporters observed tight security and limited turnout at polling stations in several Yangon townships. Election officials were seen driving through neighbourhoods in vans using loudspeakers to urge residents to vote “to avoid losing their civic rights,” but only small numbers of voters appeared at polling stations. In the Lanmadaw Township constituency where veteran activist Ko Ko Gyi was standing, music promoting the election played over loudspeakers at one voting precinct until late morning but the site remained almost empty. In Dagon Township, only a handful of people were seen checking voter lists at a school-based polling station, where security was visibly heavier than at nearby sites. A Yangon taxi driver said road closures around polling stations had disrupted traffic despite the small number of voters, and a resident of North Okkalapa Township said some locals had been intimidated into voting, citing rumours that non-participants would be penalised with travel restrictions or conscription for military service. Conflict zones, displaced voters Many townships included in the final phase have been impacted by recent clashes between the military and resistance forces. In eastern Bago Region, where fighting has displaced large numbers of residents, local aid workers and resistance groups said many internally displaced people, who were sheltering with relatives or on farmland, were unable to reach polling stations. Most inhabitants of Mandalay Region, where eight townships were included, have felt the effects of repeated clashes and long-term displacement. The regional election commission said more than 500 polling stations were operating between 6am and 4pm, but the commission’s chair Kyaw Than Tun declined to provide turnout figures, citing security reasons. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, head of the military regime and self-appointed interim president, toured polling stations in Mandalay. “We don’t care whether they recognise it or not. What counts is that the people are voting,” he said, referring to foreign governments’ refusal to treat the election as legitimate. In villages outside Mandalay’s urban centre, polling stations set up in schools were guarded by members of pro-military militias and firefighters. Residents said there were noticeably few voters entering the compounds. Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing tours polling stations in Mandalay yesterday (AFP) Neutralised competition The military has promoted the process as a “multi-party democratic election,” despite having dissolved the National League for Democracy, which won landslide victories in 2015 and 2020, and jailed many of its leaders. The Shan Nationalities League for Democracy did not field any candidates. Only a handful of parties were afforded the opportunity to compete nationwide, namely the USDP, the National Unity Party, the People’s Pioneer Party, the People’s Party, the Farmers Development Party and the Shan and Nationalities Democratic Party. The other 51 competing parties were limited to regional and state races. Voting on January 25 brought the three-phase, closely managed election to a close, with results yet to be reported in full. Parliament is expected to convene in March, with the new, heavily military-dominated government to be formed the following month. Coup leader and junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is widely expected to maintain a central role in the nominally civilian administration.

Myanmar military positioned to dominate parliament as junta-managed election concludes

With 25 percent of seats reserved for unelected military representatives and a military proxy party taking most of the elected seats, it was clear the military and its proxies would hold most seats in the next parliament even before third-phase voting began

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