Myanmar military regime announces election date

Myanmar’s military-controlled Union Election Commission (UEC) announced on Monday that they had fixed December 28 of this year as the date for a long-planned general election, despite an ongoing civil war and condemnation from inside the country and abroad. The junta has vowed to hold elections for years after ousting the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party in February 2021, claiming without evidence that the NLD’s landslide victory in the 2020 general election had been fraudulent. Opponents of military rule have argued the regime has no lawful authority to hold elections and that the results of any election overseen by the junta cannot be free or fair. According to the UEC’s statement, the “first phase” of the general election will occur on the chosen date, a Sunday. While every seat in Myanmar’s bicameral parliament is to be contested in the planned general election, it is unclear which constituencies will be included in each phase. “The first part of the general election will be held on December 28, which will be followed by other phases to be announced later,” the UEC statement said. The junta has granted permission to a total of around 50 political parties to field candidates in elections, while nine parties including the military proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) are authorised to compete in countrywide elections. The NLD, Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), and other parties are barred from competing after being officially disbanded by the UEC in 2023, when they failed to meet the commission’s newly changed criteria for re-registration. Civil war has wracked the country since the coup, with the military routinely and indiscriminately bombing and shelling cities, towns, and areas under anti-junta forces’ control. The coup’s leader, military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, has used his position to pursue his own political ambitions, positioning himself to assume leadership of the country while cracking down violently on opponents and putting dissidents and protesters behind bars. The civil war perpetrated by the coup regime has displaced more than 3.3 million people from their homes in Myanmar, according to the estimates from the United Nations (UN). According to data collected by the monitoring group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), more than 22,300 people have been detained and more than 7,000 killed under the military regime. Analysts including Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, have characterised the elections as a “sham” and a ploy for international recognition by an illegitimate authoritarian regime. “The election under the military cannot be credible. The political context remains grim,” said UN spokesperson Farhan Haq in July, citing the steady escalation of armed conflict and repression in Myanmar since the coup. “The Secretary-General reiterates his concern over the military’s plan to hold elections amid ongoing conflict and human rights violations, and without conditions that would permit the people of Myanmar to freely and peacefully exercise their political rights,” Mr. Haq added.

Myanmar military regime announces election date

The junta-controlled election commission said that Sunday, December 28 had been set as the date for the 2025 election, which analysts have condemned as a ‘sham’ due to the regime’s use of violence and repression against opponents

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