A trishaw driver reads a newspaper reporting on Myanmar's general election in Yangon. Sunday was the first of three rounds of elections, with further stages to be held in January, 2026.NHAC NGUYEN/AFP/Getty Images
Voters in parts of Myanmar went to the polls for the first time in five years Sunday, for what the country’s military-led government called “free and fair elections,” but many observers denounced as a sham.
Myanmar’s last election in November, 2020, resulted in a landslide victory for the National League for Democracy, the party of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. The military, which had hoped its Union Solidarity and Development Party would hold on to power, claimed the process had been marred by widespread fraud and in February, 2021, seized power, jailing Ms. Suu Kyi and other leaders of the civilian government.
Since then, Myanmar has been wracked by chaos and civil war, with the military-led administration in Naypyidaw only controlling around a third of the country, with the rest in the hands of ethnic militias, the opposition National Unity Government and criminal groups.
Given its limited territory – over the weekend, Myanmar’s Ministry of Information published a long list of areas “where elections will not be held” – there was little chance of the military staging a truly representative national election, even if opposition parties were able to participate, which they were not.
Nevertheless, the junta has pressed ahead, and in July, it officially dissolved itself and lifted a state of emergency that was in place since the coup, though few doubt the military is still in control.
By holding elections and transitioning to a nominally civilian government, Myanmar may be hoping to ease international pressure on both itself and regional allies, particularly within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations – which is split between authoritarian and democratic countries – and China, which has strongly supported Naypyidaw’s election plan.
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In August, junta leader Min Aung Hlaing travelled to China, where he met with President Xi Jinping. Beijing has since put pressure on ethnic militias in northern Myanmar, along the border with China, to agree to a ceasefire after they made major territorial goals that seemed, for a time, to threaten the junta’s grip on power.
Officials from China, Russia and India were among 139 international election observers who monitored “the orderly and free casting of ballots” on Sunday, Myanmar’s Ministry of Information said.
In a statement, it quoted voters in Naypyidaw who expressed they were happy and proud to take part in the election, which one said was “now more convenient and easier than before.” The ministry also published photos showing long lines outside polling stations in the military capital.
This was in stark contrast to reports from Yangon, Myanmar’s largest city, and other urban areas, where residents told international and exile media that most polling stations were empty, and predicted a major decline in turnout from the 70-per-cent participation seen in 2020.
Sunday was the first of three rounds of elections, with further stages to be held in January. More than 5,000 candidates from 57 political parties are competing for around 950 seats in the upper and lower houses of parliament and within regional bodies, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar, a state-run newspaper.
In an editorial, the paper said the elections “will turn a new page for Myanmar, shifting the narrative from a conflict-affected, crisis-laden country to a new chapter of hope for building peace and reconstructing the economy.”
In a statement ahead of Sunday’s vote, Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur for human rights in Myanmar, denounced what he called “the junta’s election scheme.”
He said the military government has shown “complete disregard for civilian lives and blatant violation of international humanitarian and human rights law.”
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“A strong, coordinated rejection of these sham elections is essential to deny the junta the means to fabricate credibility and legitimacy,” Mr. Andrews said.
Rights groups echoed this assessment, with Justice For Myanmar, which lobbies for sanctions against the military government, saying the elections were an attempt to “legitimize the military’s illegal coup.”
“The countries supporting this sham election and sending fake observers, notably China, Russia, Belarus and Vietnam, are profiting from the junta through business interests with the Myanmar military and arms sales,” said spokesperson Yadanar Maung in a statement.
“By backing this fake election, these governments are keeping the money flowing, sustaining the junta’s campaign of terror and aiding and abetting its international crimes.”