Myanmar is set for a general election in late 2025, nearly five years after the military took power in a coup.
The first phase was expected to start on 28 December, state broadcaster MRTV quoted the Union Election Commission as saying. The dates for subsequent phases would be announced later.
The announcement came almost three weeks after the military junta said that it was ending the state of emergency and restructuring its administrative bodies to prepare for the election at the end of the year.
The military imposed a state of emergency and drew up new administrative structures after ousting Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in early 2021 and jailing members of her National League for Democracy Party.
At least 55 political parties are registered for the election and nine of them plan to compete nationwide.
“Six parties are under review for approval and registration,” The Global New Light of Myanmar reported earlier this month.
But critics say the election will not be democratic since there is no free media in the country and most top members of Suu Kyi’s party are in jail. The plan is widely seen as an attempt to legitimise and maintain the military’s rule.
The election is expected to be dominated by the junta’s proxies and the outcome is likely to be favourable to the military, critics say.
A general election was supposed to be held in August 2023 but the junta repeatedly pushed the date back.
A newly formed interim administration announced its plan to hold voting in over 300 constituencies, including in areas currently held by armed groups opposed to the military.
The military justified its February 2021 coup as a necessary intervention following what it claimed was widespread fraud in an election held three months earlier that was won decisively by Ms Suu Kyi’s party.
But election monitors found no evidence of the alleged fraud, which would have changed the outcome of the exercise.
