Myanmar’s military government will hold the second phase of its multi-stage national election on January 11, state media reported on Wednesday, despite widespread international condemnation that the vote will be neither free nor fair.
The announcement comes as the junta presses ahead with a deeply disputed electoral process aimed at legitimizing its rule nearly four years after seizing power from Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected civilian government in a February 2021 coup.
The power grab plunged the country into chaos, sparking a nationwide armed resistance that continues to challenge military control across vast parts of Myanmar.
According to the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar, the second phase of voting will take place two weeks after the first round on December 28 and will cover 100 townships, including several in the commercial capital, Yangon.
Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has previously acknowledged that the polls will not be conducted nationwide due to ongoing security concerns.
Most pro-democracy parties, including Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), have been barred or have refused to participate.
The NLD and 39 other parties were dissolved two years ago after the junta-appointed election commission said they failed to re-register under new election laws.
“I don’t think anybody believes that those elections will be free and fair,” U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres said Monday on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit, where Southeast Asian nations urged Myanmar’s generals to ensure the process is at least “inclusive and credible.”
The military government says it has completed a full census to compile voter lists in only 145 of Myanmar’s 330 townships. The census, conducted in December, estimated the country’s population at 51.3 million.
Meanwhile, fighting continues to intensify across the country as ethnic armed organizations and anti-junta militias gain control over large swaths of territory.
Analysts say the worsening conflict and lack of political inclusivity have rendered the planned elections meaningless, describing them as an attempt by the junta to project legitimacy rather than restore democracy.
Source: Reuters
Written By Rodney Mbua
