Myanmar’s military regime will hold the second phase of its three-phased elections on Jan. 11, 2026 regime media reported on Wednesday, a vote dismissed as a sham by Western countries, the U.N. and human rights groups.
Myanmar has been in political turmoil since the military seized power in a 2021 coup, ousting the National League for Democracy (NLD) government led by Aung San Suu Kyi and sparking a nationwide armed uprising.
Dozens of pro-democracy parties have either been banned or are refusing to take part in the regime elections, which regime leader Min Aung Hlaing has admitted will not be held nationwide.
The second phase will be held two weeks after the first phase on Dec. 28, and cover 100 townships nationwide, including several in Yangon, Myanmar’s commercial capital and largest city.
“I don’t think anybody believes that those elections will be free and fair,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Monday, on the sidelines of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 47th Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
The 11-member bloc of Southeast Asian nations acknowledged at its annual gathering that it cannot stop the regime scheduled elections in Myanmar but its foreign ministers want the contest to be fair and inclusive.
The regime has since faced widespread opposition from established ethnic armies and newly-formed armed groups post-2021 coup, which have wrested away large tracts of territory from the well-armed military.
The regime was able to conduct a full, on-the-ground census to generate voter lists in only 145 of the country’s 330 townships, according to a December census report that put Myanmar’s total population at 51.3 million.
The NLD and 39 other parties were dissolved by the regime Union Election Commission (UEC) two years ago for failure to register for the election.
REUTERS
