The country has announced that the first phase of the general election is scheduled to begin on December 28, with additional stages to follow. The statement offers the clearest timeline yet after months of vague promises by the junta’s leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
The election would be the first since the junta seized power after its pro-military parties were trounced by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) in the polls in 2020. The military claimed – without providing evidence – that widespread voter fraud had taken place during the election.
Min Aung Hlaing has refused to cede power while his forces have bombed civilians to put down a rebellion, crushed protests and jailed critics, including Suu Kyi.
Thousands of pro-democracy protesters have been killed and jailed as the country lurched into a civil war that has pulverised its economy and sent millions of Myanmar’s people overseas seeking work and safety.
The junta has lost control over swathes of the country. It has been forced to impose martial law on over 60 townships where its control is at best threadbare, while its thinning ranks of soldiers after several years of grinding war rely on forced conscription.
