Overview
- State media announced the second phase for Jan. 11 covering 100 townships, two weeks after the Dec. 28 first round.
- Approved parties opened campaigns with the military-aligned USDP staging events in Naypyitaw and Yangon as on-the-ground activity elsewhere remained limited.
- Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD and dozens of other parties were dissolved by the junta-appointed election commission, leaving 57 registered parties and positioning the USDP to dominate.
- Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing says nationwide voting is impossible due to conflict, with 102 townships voting first and extensive areas excluded under martial law.
- UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned the election could deepen instability, ASEAN will not send observers, and resistance groups urged a boycott and vowed disruption, as new laws threaten up to 10-year prison terms for election protests.