{"id":4631,"date":"2025-12-28T08:35:48","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T08:35:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/12\/28\/myanmar-votes-as-military-holds-first-election-since-2021-coup\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T08:35:48","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T08:35:48","slug":"myanmar-votes-as-military-holds-first-election-since-2021-coup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/12\/28\/myanmar-votes-as-military-holds-first-election-since-2021-coup\/","title":{"rendered":"Myanmar votes as military holds first election since 2021 coup"},"content":{"rendered":"<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Polls have opened in Myanmar\u2019s first general election since the country\u2019s military toppled Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi\u2019s democratically elected government in a 2021 coup.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/12\/27\/whats-happening-in-myanmars-civil-war-as-military-holds-elections\">heavily restricted<\/a> election on Sunday is taking place in about a third of the Southeast Asian nation\u2019s 330 townships, with large areas inaccessible amid a raging civil war between the military and an array of opposition forces.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 3 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/12\/11\/dozens-killed-as-myanmar-military-govt-launches-air-strike-on-hospital\">At least 33 killed in Myanmar military gov\u2019t air strike on hospital<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/12\/13\/myanmar-military-says-armed-groups-used-hospital-it-bombed-killing-dozens\">Myanmar military says armed groups used hospital it bombed, killing dozens<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 3<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/12\/17\/myanmar-regime-claims-aung-san-suu-kyi-in-good-health-despite-sons-fears\">Myanmar regime claims Aung San Suu Kyi \u2018in good health\u2019 despite son\u2019s fears<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Following the initial phase, two rounds of voting will be held on January 11 and January 25, while voting has been cancelled in 65 townships altogether.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis means that at least 20 percent of the country is disenfranchised at this stage,\u201d said Al Jazeera\u2019s Tony Cheng, reporting from Myanmar\u2019s largest city, Yangon. \u201cThe big question is going to be here in the cities, what is the turnout going to be like?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In Yangon, polling stations opened at 6am on Sunday (23:30 GMT, Saturday), and once the sun was up, \u201cwe\u2019ve seen a relatively regular flow of voters come in,\u201d said Cheng.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut the voters are generally middle aged, and we haven\u2019t seen many young people. When you look at the ballot, there are only few choices. The vast majority of those choices are military parties,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The election has been derided by critics \u2013 including the United Nations, some Western countries and human rights \u2060groups \u2013 as an exercise that is not free, fair or credible, with anti-military political parties not competing.<\/p>\n<p>Aung San Suu Kyi, who was deposed by the military \u200bmonths after her National League for Democracy (NLD) won the last general election by a landslide in 2020, remains in detention, and her party has been dissolved.<\/p>\n<p>The pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) is widely expected to emerge as the largest party.<\/p>\n<p>The military, which has governed Myanmar since 2021, said the vote is a chance for a new start, politically and economically, for the nation of 55 million people, with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing consistently framing the polls as a path to reconciliation.<\/p>\n<p>Dressed in civilian clothes, the military chief cast his ballot shortly after polling stations opened in Naypyidaw, the country\u2019s capital. He then held up an ink-soaked figure and smiled widely.<\/p>\n<p>Voters must dip a \u2060finger into indelible ink after casting a ballot to ensure they do not vote more than once.<\/p>\n<p>He told reporters afterwards that the elections are free and fair, and the vote was not tarnished because it is being held by the military.<\/p>\n<p>The state-run Global New Light of Myanmar, in an opinion piece on Sunday, said the poll would open a new chapter and \u201cserve as bridge for the people of Myanmar to reach a prosperous future\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier, it reported that election observers from Russia, China, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nicaragua and India have flown into the country ahead of the polls.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"a-resounding-usdp-victory\">\u2018A resounding USDP victory\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>But with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/12\/13\/myanmar-military-says-armed-groups-used-hospital-it-bombed-killing-dozens\">fighting still raging<\/a> in many areas of the country, the UN\u2019s Special Rapporteur on Myanmar, Tom Andrews called on the international community to reject the military-run poll.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAn election organised by a junta that continues to bomb civilians, jail political leaders and criminalise all forms of dissent is not an election \u2013 it is a theatre of the absurd performed at gunpoint,\u201d Andrews said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis is not a pathway out of Myanmar\u2019s crisis. It is a ploy that will perpetuate repression, division and conflict,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>The civil war, which was triggered by the 2021 coup, has killed an estimated 90,000 people, displaced 3.5 million and left some 22 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 22,000 people are currently detained for political offences.<\/p>\n<p>In downtown Yangon, stations were cordoned off overnight, with security staff posted outside, while armed officers guarded traffic intersections. Election officials set up equipment and installed electronic voting machines, which are being used for the first time in Myanmar.<\/p>\n<p>The machines will not allow write-in candidates or spoiled ballots.<\/p>\n<p>Among a trickle of early voters in the city was 45-year-old Swe Maw, who dismissed international criticism.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s not an important matter,\u201d he told the AFP news agency. \u201cThere are always people who like and dislike.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the central Mandalay region, 40-year-old Moe Moe Myint said it was \u201cimpossible for this election to be free and fair\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHow can we support a junta-run election when this military has destroyed our lives?\u201d she told AFP. \u201cWe are homeless, hiding in jungles, and living between life and death,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>The second round of polling will take place in two weeks\u2019 time, before the third and final round on January 25.<\/p>\n<p>Dates for counting votes and announcing election results have not been declared.<\/p>\n<p>Analysts say the military\u2019s attempt to establish a stable administration in the midst of an expansive conflict is fraught with risk, and that significant international recognition is unlikely for any military-controlled government.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe outcome is hardly in doubt: a resounding USDP victory and a continuation of army rule with a thin civilian veneer,\u201d wrote Richard Horsey, an analyst at the International Crisis Group in a briefing earlier this month.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut it will in no way ease Myanmar\u2019s political crisis or weaken the resolve of a determined armed resistance. Instead, it will likely harden political divisions and prolong Myanmar\u2019s state failure. The new administration, which will take power in April 2026, will have few better options, little credibility and likely no feasible strategy for moving the country in a positive direction,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4199398\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4199398\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/AFP__20251228__896379F__v1__MidRes__MyanmarVote-1766883845.jpg?w=770&#038;resize=770%2C514&#038;quality=80\" alt=\"People line up to vote inside a polling station during the first phase of Myanmar's general election in Yangon on December 28, 2025.Polling opened in Myanmar's heavily restricted junta-run elections, beginning a month-long vote democracy watchdogs describe as a rebranding of military rule.\" fetchpriority=\"low\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4199398\">The Southeast Asian nation of about 50 million is riven by civil war, and there will be no voting in rebel-held areas, which is more than half the country [Nhac Nguyen\/AFP]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Polls have opened in Myanmar\u2019s first general election since the country\u2019s military toppled Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi\u2019s democratically elected government in a 2021 coup. The heavily restricted election on Sunday is taking place in about a third of the Southeast Asian nation\u2019s 330 townships, with large areas inaccessible amid a raging civil war &#8230; <a title=\"Myanmar votes as military holds first election since 2021 coup\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/12\/28\/myanmar-votes-as-military-holds-first-election-since-2021-coup\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Myanmar votes as military holds first election since 2021 coup\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4631\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}