Polling stations across military-controlled areas of Myanmar opened on Sunday, December 28, 2025, for the first phase of a staggered general election, the country’s first since the 2021 military coup that ousted the elected civilian government and plunged the nation into conflict.
Junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing cast his ballot in the capital Naypyidaw, insisting the vote would be “free and fair.” “We guarantee it to be a free and fair election,” he told reporters, adding, “It’s organised by the military, we can’t let our name be tarnished,” according to AFP reports.
Early turnout appeared low in major cities like Yangon and Mandalay, contrasting sharply with the long queues seen in the 2020 election, which the military later declared fraudulent. Journalists and polling staff often outnumbered voters in the initial hours, with only around 100 people casting ballots in the first hour at monitored stations in Yangon, as observed by AFP.
The election, phased over three rounds ending January 25, 2026, excludes nearly one in five lower house constituencies due to ongoing fighting. No voting occurs in rebel-held territories, where ethnic armed groups and pro-democracy forces control significant areas. The pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) is widely expected to dominate, with critics viewing the process as an attempt to legitimise junta rule under a civilian facade.
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Former civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide in 2020, remains detained serving a 27-year sentence on charges dismissed by rights groups as politically motivated. Her party has been dissolved and does not participate.
International observers, including the United Nations, Western governments, and rights organisations, have condemned the vote as neither free nor fair. UN human rights chief Volker Turk described it as occurring in an “environment of violence and repression,” while UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews called it “theatre of the absurd performed at gunpoint.” The Asian Network for Free Elections notes that 90 per cent of seats from the 2020 poll went to parties absent from this ballot.
New laws criminalise criticism or “disruption” of the election, with over 200 prosecutions reported. Electronic voting machines, introduced for the first time, prohibit write-in candidates or spoiled ballots.
Some voters expressed hope for peace. “The first priority should be restoring a safe and peaceful situation,” said 63-year-old Bo Saw near Suu Kyi’s former home. Others dismissed the process; displaced resident Hman Thit, 23, told AFP he expected continued airstrikes and atrocities.
The civil war, sparked by the February 2021 coup, has killed an estimated 90,000 people across all sides, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED). Millions remain displaced amid intensified fighting.
China and Russia endorse the election, with observers from allied nations present, while Western democracies and ASEAN have declined monitoring invitations.
