Myanmar junta announces schedule for December, January election

Read RFA coverage of this topic in Burmese.

Myanmar junta has announced that the election it plans to hold in December and January would be held in four phases, marking the first time the military has outlined a specific schedule for the controversial vote.

The junta said in early March that the elections were slated for December 2025 with the possibility of January 2026, but observers at that time dismissed its plan, saying the military won’t be able to hold the vote in territory it doesn’t control – about half the country – and that the public will view the results as a sham.

“A provisional date for the election is set on the third week and fourth week of December this year and first week and second week of January,” the junta’s Office of the Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that the election would be held in four-part phases.

“The government must take advanced measures to hold a fraud-free multi-party democracy general election that is truly free and fair,” it added, without elaborating.

Since the 2021 coup, the junta has repeatedly attempted to hold elections, but these efforts have been consistently delayed.

The military regime has extended the State of Emergency multiple times over the past four years, citing alleged fraud in the 2020 general elections, in which the National League for Democracy secured a decisive victory.

By issuing back-to-back emergency declarations, the junta has effectively postponed the election process, prolonging its grip on power.

Signs of progress toward holding elections have emerged in recent months as Myanmar’s junta chief traveled abroad to secure international support.

Following diplomatic visits to Russia and Belarus in March, both countries pledged their backing for the junta’s controversial election plan.

They join India and China, which have also expressed support for the isolated nation’s electoral process, despite the military regime’s decision to bar some political parties from re-registering due to alleged ties to rebel militias.

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But observers, including human rights groups and officials from the ousted National League for Democracy government, question the legitimacy of the junta-led election after an opaque census by the military left dozens of administrators dead and large parts of the country untouched.

Widespread violence in embattled areas, coupled with near-daily airstrikes from the Myanmar military that often target civilians, also leave many skeptical about the feasibility of the election.

Insurgent groups now control large swathes of the country’s borderlands, leaving the areas like Rakhine and Shan states under uncertain jurisdiction with minimal junta presence.

Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by Taejun Kang.