Myanmar Junta's First Election Phase Concludes Under Tight Control

Overview

• The monthlong, three-stage legislative vote opened and closed its first day on December 28 in junta-held areas, with results expected by late January.
• General Min Aung Hlaing cast his ballot in Naypyidaw and declared the elections free and fair, countering broad international criticism.
• Large swaths of rebel-held territory were excluded, authorities canceled voting for 65 of 330 lower-house seats, and more than one million Rohingya refugees remain disenfranchised.
• The pro-military USDP fielded the largest slate after the NLD and most 2020-era parties were dissolved, and Aung San Suu Kyi remains imprisoned.
• Controls include a military-led election commission under sanctioned chief Than Soe, new electronic machines that block write-ins and null votes, restrictive laws used to arrest critics, and scant foreign observers including a Belarusian delegation.