Preliminary election results show USDP victory
The military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which governed Burma from 2011-16 under then-President Thein Sein, claimed on Sunday that it had won all 17 townships in Yangon Region during the third and final round of voting in the military’s 2025-26 elections on Jan. 25. DVB is unable to independently verify this claim.
Maung Myint, a USDP central executive committee member, shared on his social media account that the party won all seats in Yangon Region for the Pyithu Hluttaw, or lower house of parliament. Former political prisoner and 88 Generation Students Group leader Ko Ko Gyi, who is also the founder and chairperson of the People’s Party, reportedly lost a seat he contested in Yangon’s Lanmadaw Township to the USDP.
Ko Ko Gyi told BBC Burmese on Jan. 26 that he’s awaiting official results from the military’s Union Election Commission (UEC) to be released this week. The USDP won 181 seats out of the 202 seats available in the Pyithu Hluttaw and 52 out of 78 seats in the Amyotha Hluttaw, or upper house, after the first two rounds of voting on Dec. 28 and Jan. 11, according to the UEC.
Min Aung Hlaing dismisses international criticism
Regime leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said that Burma will move toward a “multiparty democratic” system as the 2025-26 elections ended on Sunday. He told pro-regime media during a tour of polling stations in Mandalay Region that it was up to the voters to choose which government it wanted while evading questions about which role he would play in it.
“Whether the international community recognizes this or not, we don’t understand their perspective. The people’s vote is the recognition we need,” Min Aung Hlaing said while dismissing international criticism of the elections on Jan. 25. In a speech at the Eastern Central Regional Military Command (RMC) in Shan State’s Nansang Township on Jan. 20, he said that parliament would be convened in March.
The National League for Democracy (NLD), which won landslide election victories against the USDP in 2015 and 2020 was disbanded by the UEC in 2023. NLD leaders Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint have been held in prison since the coup on Feb. 1, 2021. Malaysia, which was the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 2025 chair, has said the regional bloc would not recognize the results of this election. Read more
Airstrikes in Sagaing Region during final phase of elections
No casualties were reported during airstrikes carried out by the Burma Air Force on Sagaing Region’s Kanni Township as regime forces have also been carrying out paramotor attacks against People’s Defence Force (PDF) positions in eastern, southern, and northern areas of Kanni on Jan. 25, according to residents.
A Kanni resident told DVB on the condition of anonymity that polls were only held in urban areas of the town with around 300 residents who “support” the military heading out to vote as most residents had been evacuated from their homes since the PDF launched an offensive to seize the town in March 2024.
Besides Kanni, the UEC held the final round of voting in Sagaing’s Salingyi Township, 27 miles (43 km) southwest of the Sagaing Region capital Monywa on Jan. 25. A resident of Salingyi told DVB that hundreds of workers and their families at the Latpadaungtaung copper mine were “pressured” to vote during the final phase of the military elections.
News by Region
KACHIN—Five civilians were injured in an artillery exchange between regime forces and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Hpakant Township during the third round of voting on Sunday. The final phase of elections was halted in five urban wards due to the shelling, residents told DVB.
Renewed fighting between the KIA and regime forces in Hpakant began on June 16. Hpakant is located 94-158 miles (151-254 km) west and northwest of the state capital Myitkyina and the KIA headquarters of Laiza. Polls in the military elections were held in Bhamo, Hpakant and Shwegu townships on Jan. 25. Read more
SAGAING—Residents of Pale Township told DVB that the People’s Defence Force (PDF) under the National Unity Government (NUG) “forced” them to stage a protest against the Burma National Revolutionary Army (BNRA) on Thursday. Pale is located 39 miles (62 km) southwest of the region’s capital Monywa.
The BNRA stated on Jan. 23 that it had investigated and confirmed that Pale residents were being forced to protest by the PDF. The protest followed a BNRA “raid” on an NUG People’s Administration Team (PAT) checkpoint in Pale on Jan. 17. The BNRA seized control of northern Pale on Nov. 11, 2024.
SHAN—The Shan Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), also known as the White Tiger Party, told DVB that it won a total of 10 seats, including one seat in the Pyithu Hluttaw, six seats in the State Hluttaw, and three more seats were distributed to the party by the new proportional representation system.
Sai Say Han, the SNDP vice chairperson, told DVB that the White Tiger Party won seats in Langkho, Mongkung and Kunhing townships on Dec. 28 and Jan. 11, as well as Mongnai, Kehsi, and Hsipaw townships on Jan. 25. Polls took place in Kyaukme, Hsipaw, Monghsu, Kehsi, Nyaungshwe and Mongnai townships during the final phase of elections.
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