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Myanmar Opens Staggered Election Under Military Rule

Opposition groups denounce the vote as illegitimate.

Overview

  • Balloting began on December 28 in the first of three rounds, the country’s first nationwide vote since the 2021 coup.
  • Polling is confined largely to areas the authorities control as ongoing conflict prevents voting in wide swaths of the country.
  • The National Unity Government’s spokesperson, Nay Phone Latt, dismisses the process as a sham and rejects the junta’s authority.
  • Centrist reformist leader Ko Ko Gyi says his People’s Party will participate as a pragmatic step toward gradual change.
  • Aung San Suu Kyi remains detained and her NLD has been dissolved, military-aligned parties are widely expected to prevail, and results are due around the end of January.