The military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won both available parliamentary seats in the Pyithu Hluttaw, or lower house, as well as five of eight seats in the Amyotha Hluttaw, or upper house. It also won six of 11 Chin State Hluttaw seats in Tedim Township and the Chin State capital Hakha during the first phase of voting in the regime’s 2025-26 elections on Dec. 28.
“People were not interested [in voting],” Salai Htet Ni, the Chin National Army (CNA) spokesperson, told DVB. The preliminary election results were released by the regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) on Jan. 5-6.
The Zomi National Party (ZNP) won the three other Amyotha Hluttaw seats and four in the Chin State Hluttaw. The New Chinland Congress (NCC) party also secured one seat in the state parliament, according to the UEC.
Chin’s Thantlang, Falam, and Tonzang townships are among the 65 townships nationwide where elections will not be held due to ongoing conflict. Sixteen townships nationwide will have polling stations in urban areas only, according to the UEC. Chin State has a total of nine townships.
Only 131 of Myanmar’s 330 townships will hold elections in full and 118 will do so only in designated areas, according to DVB data.
Thantlang, Falam, and Tonzang are currently under resistance control. Thantlang is located 22 miles (35 km) west of the Chin state capital Hakha. Falam and Tonzang are 20-65 miles (32–105 km) north of Hakha.
Unless the UEC announces voting in additional constituencies, the elections ended in Chin State with the conclusion of the first phase of voting on Dec. 28. The second and final phases of voting are set for Jan. 11 and Jan. 25. The UEC will announce official election results following the end of voting.
“I don’t think that the military elections can be held in further townships since there is fighting. We are not going to let that happen in townships [under resistance control],” Salai Htet Ni told DVB.
The UEC announced on Oct. 19 that 83 candidates would contest 28 parliamentary seats across Chin State. This includes 28 candidates from the USDP, 26 from the NCC, 19 from the ZNP, nine from the People’s Pioneer Party (PPP), and one from the Khumi (Khami) National Party.
Residents of Hakha told DVB that a family of three was killed in an airstrike carried out by the Myanmar Air Force on Jan. 5. Chin World media reported on Jan. 4 that Chin resistance forces reportedly seized a regime base in Tedim, detaining eight military personnel.
Since October, a military counteroffensive to recapture Falam located 71 miles (114 km) north of Hakha, from resistance forces has continued.
Chin resistance groups seized control of Kanpetlet, Mindat, and Matupi townships in southern Chin State in June and December 2024, while Paletwa Township was seized by the Arakan Army (AA) in January 2024. These townships are located 171-286 miles (275–461 km) south of Hakha.
Urban areas of Hakha and Thantlang, as well as Tedim, which located 117 miles (188 km) north of Hakha, are under regime control.
