Nay Phone Latt, the spokesperson for the National Unity Government (NUG) Prime Minister’s Office, stated on Tuesday that all 54 political parties which have registered with the regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) to run candidates in the planned general elections lack “public support.”
“Even combined, they failed to secure 10 percent of seats in the Parliament during the 2020 general elections,” said Nay Phone Latt, adding that the regime’s plan to hold polls by December “will not resolve the issues Myanmar is facing” and called on all citizens to reject any election held by the regime in Naypyidaw, which seized power after the 2021 military coup.
The NUG held an online briefing on Tuesday as a response to the regime’s “Peace Forum 2025” held in Naypyidaw June 25-27. The regime met with representatives from the Federal Political Negotiation and Consultative Committee (FPNCC), which is a coalition of ethnic armed groups that have continued to hold talks with the regime since 2021.
During his opening speech at the forum on June 25. regime leader Min Aung Hlaing promised to re-establish a “multi-party democratic system” after an election was held. He announced elections would begin by December during a visit to Belarus earlier this year.
Former regime minister and ex-National League for Democracy (NLD) lawmaker Thet Thet Khine told the media at a press conference after the forum that around 120 suggestions from attendees regarding the planned elections and peace process were recorded at the forum. Her People’s Pioneer Party (PPP) is one of the 10 political parties planning to contest polls nationwide.
Wunna Aung, a member of the regime National Solidarity and Peacemaking Negotiation Committee (NSPNC), told the attendees that the committee will review the discussions and present them to Min Aung Hlaing.
FPNCC members, including the United Wa State Army (UWSA) and the National Democratic Alliance Army (NDAA), sent delegations to the forum. Ethnic armed groups which are resisting the 2021 coup were not in attendance.
Kachin Independence Army (KIA) Spokesperson Naw Bu told DVB that the regime did not send them an invitation. He acknowledged the importance of elections but said he was not convinced that any polls under the 2008 military-drafted Constitution could guarantee peace.
The KIA has seized 14 towns in Kachin State, as well as Mabein in northern Shan State, since it launched its most recent offensive against regime forces in March 2024. It has been fighting for control of Bhamo Township, located 120 miles (193 km) south of the state capital Myitkyina, since Dec. 4.
Critics of the regime were dismayed over the decision by the UEC to dissolve the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which Aung San Suu Kyi led to landslide victories in the 2015 and 2020 elections, for not re-registering.
This is also the case for the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), which came third after the NLD and the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) with the most number of seats won nationwide in the 2020 elections.
People’s Party Chairperson, and former political prisoner, Ko Ko Gyi told DVB that the regime-planned elections are vital for the “transition to a democratic system.” His party attended the forum in Naypyidaw and is committed to fielding candidates nationwide like the PPP and the USDP.
The 2021 coup deposed the democratically-elected NLD government, led by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, over allegations of voter fraud. Both Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint have been held in detention since Feb. 1, 2021.
A one-year state of emergency was enforced on the same date with the regime committing to hold a new election by 2022, but still no date has been set and the emergency has been extended every six months since 2022. The state of emergency would have to be lifted on July 31 by Min Aung Hlaing for an election to begin in December.
