Overview

• On July 31, the military government lifted the four-year state of emergency imposed after its 2021 coup to fulfill constitutional requirements for a multiparty vote
• Two days earlier, the junta approved the “Law on the Protection of Multiparty Democratic Elections from Obstruction, Disruption and Destruction,” outlawing speech and protest against the polls
• The measure imposes three to seven years in prison for individual offenses, five to ten years for group actions and death for any disruption causing fatalities
• Opposition parties and exile lawmakers have vowed to boycott the December election as a façade to legitimize Min Aung Hlaing’s continued rule
• Provisional census figures show data missing for some 19 million people due to security constraints, underscoring the junta’s limited control over large territories