Bangkok, Aug 18: Myanmar’s military-appointed Union Election Commission has announced that national elections will begin on December 28, 2025.
The long-awaited polls, postponed multiple times since the 2021 military coup, will be held in phases, with a full schedule to be released later.
The commission confirmed that all 330 townships have been designated as constituencies, and nearly 60 parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), have registered to participate.
However, the legitimacy of the elections has already been widely criticized and rejected by opposition groups, activists, and international observers.
Critics say the elections are an attempt by the military to normalize its hold on power, despite the country being in the grip of a nationwide civil conflict and without conditions necessary for free and fair voting—such as media freedom, rule of law, and participation by all major political actors.
The country remains deeply divided and unstable.
Large areas, especially in ethnic minority regions, are controlled not by the military government but by ethnic armed groups and pro-democracy resistance fighters, who oppose the junta and have pledged to disrupt or boycott the vote.
The military’s actual control is estimated to extend to less than half of Myanmar’s territory.
In July, the regime passed a harsh new electoral law, threatening up to the death penalty for anyone attempting to oppose or disrupt the electoral process.
Critics view this as an intimidation tactic to stifle dissent and resistance.
Since the 2021 coup that overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, Myanmar has descended into violent unrest. Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), which won the last free election in 2020, has been dissolved by the junta.
Most of its leaders have been imprisoned, including Suu Kyi herself, who is currently serving 27 years in prison after politically motivated convictions.
Meanwhile, the military has intensified its campaign to regain control over rebel-held areas, launching airstrikes and ground attacks that have killed dozens of civilians in recent weeks.
On Sunday, at least 24 people were reported killed when bombs were dropped on a hospital in Mawchi, Kayah State, a region known for wolfram and tungsten mining.
Just days earlier, another 21 people, including a pregnant woman, were killed in an airstrike on Mogok, a key center of Myanmar’s gemstone industry.
These attacks were reported by independent media, though the military has not confirmed them.
The army routinely claims it only targets legitimate combatants and brands the resistance as terrorists.
As Myanmar’s military tightens its grip and pushes ahead with the December vote, observers warn that the elections risk entrenching authoritarian rule amid ongoing violence, displacement, and widespread political repression. (PTI)
