The regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) announced at a meeting with registered political parties in the capital Naypyidaw on Aug. 24 that a general election will be scheduled for November 2025.

“The chair of the UEC spoke about the accuracy of ballots and the possibility of electronic voting based on population and census data that will be collected in October,” Thein Kyi, the chair of the National Political Alliances (NPA) party, told DVB.

The UEC reportedly did not specify which voting system would be used nor did it mention how the regime would ensure safety for voters or political parties during campaigning. It stated that an election would not be held on one day, as was done in the past. Instead it seeks to have voting occur on multiple dates.

The Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M) stated that the military regime, which took power after the 2021 coup, has lost control of over 86 percent of the country. Political analysts have said that the regime views an election as a way to legitimize its rule. 

Most of Myanmar’s major political parties have decided not to participate in a regime-run election and did not register with the UEC. “Since political and ethnic parties with popular support among the people will not contest the elections, there can be no successful political exit for the regime,” Shein Tun, the general secretary of the Chin Progressive Party, told DVB.

The Permanent Representative for Myanmar at the U.N. Kyaw Moe Tun urged the international community not to allow the regime to stage its election at a U.N. meeting in New York City on Monday. He added that it “will not be seen as a solution [to Myanmar’s crisis since the 2021 coup] and it will only lengthen the suffering of the people.” 

A total of 49 political parties have registered with the UEC. Only nine of them will compete at the national level, while the remaining parties will compete at the regional and state levels. The military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) is the largest political party registered with the UEC. 

The National League for Democracy (NLD) party led by Aung San Suu Kyi won landslide victories in the 2015 and 2020 general elections. The military accused the NLD of committing widespread electoral fraud in 2020, but has provided no evidence to date.   

Major political parties such as the NLD, the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (SNLD), and the Arakan National Party (ANP), have been barred by the UEC. Thailand and China have already pledged support for the regime’s planned election in 2025.