Overview
- Polling opened on December 28 for the first nationwide vote since the 2021 coup, under heavy security and visible preparations in Naypyidaw.
- The ballot will be conducted in three rounds through late January, with official results expected around the end of January 2026.
- Aung San Suu Kyi remains detained and her National League for Democracy has been dissolved, removing the principal democratic force from the race.
- Escalating fighting with resistance and ethnic armed groups is preventing voting in parts of the country, making a full nationwide poll impossible.
- Observers and local reporting question the process’s fairness, with a victory by military-aligned parties widely anticipated and public sentiment marked by resignation alongside limited hope for change.