Myanmar Junta Elections Continues in its Second Phase Despite Criticism

Myanmar Junta Elections Continues in its Second Phase Despite Criticism

Myanmar’s ruling military pressed ahead with the second phase of its elections on Sunday, a process democracy advocates say is designed to entrench army control under the cover of civilian governance.

Polling stations opened at 6 am local time in parts of the country, including Kawhmu township south of Yangon — once a stronghold of jailed democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi. AFP journalists at the scene reported voters lining up at schools converted into polling centres.

For some residents, casting a ballot was framed as a reluctant civic act rather than an endorsement of the process. Than Than Sint, a 54-year-old farmer, said she voted despite acknowledging the country’s deep crisis. “There are many problems,” she said after voting. “Peace won’t come immediately, but we have to move step by step for the sake of future generations.”

Myanmar’s armed forces, known as the Tatmadaw, have dominated the country’s politics for most of its post-independence history. That grip loosened briefly after 2011, when a decade of political reforms ushered in civilian rule and competitive elections. The opening closed abruptly in February 2021, when the military seized power, annulled the results of the 2020 vote, detained Suu Kyi and other leaders, and plunged the nation into a sprawling civil conflict.

Military-backed party dominates early results

The junta has promised that the current three-phase election, set to conclude on January 25, will restore authority to an elected government. Yet the first phase, held late last month, delivered an overwhelming victory to the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), widely viewed by analysts as the military’s political vehicle. The party secured nearly 90 percent of contested lower-house seats.

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With Suu Kyi sidelined and her hugely popular National League for Democracy (NLD) dissolved, critics argue the outcome was predetermined. “The results lie only in the mouth of the military,” said a Yangon resident, speaking anonymously to AFP for security reasons. “Most people have no interest in this election. It has nothing to do with ending our suffering.”

Turnout figures appear to reflect that sentiment. Official estimates put participation in the first phase at about 50 percent, well below the roughly 70 percent recorded in the 2020 election, when voters overwhelmingly backed the NLD.

Voting absent in conflict zones

Large swathes of the country are excluded from the polls. Voting has been cancelled in dozens of constituencies, many of them active conflict areas or regions controlled by ethnic armed groups and resistance forces. The military accused rebel factions of carrying out drone, rocket and bomb attacks during the first phase of voting, incidents that reportedly killed five people.

Analysts say the election is less about public choice and more about political optics. “The junta engineered the polls to ensure victory for its proxy and to project a veneer of legitimacy,” UN human rights expert Tom Andrews said in a statement this week. “All of this is happening while violence and repression continue.”

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The military continues to justify its 2021 coup by alleging widespread fraud in the 2020 election — claims dismissed by international and domestic election observers as baseless.

Repression alongside the ballot

The political environment remains heavily restricted. More than 330 people are currently being sought under junta laws that criminalise protests or criticism of the vote, offences that can carry prison terms of up to 10 years. Rights groups estimate that over 22,000 political prisoners are held across Myanmar.

Since the coup, peaceful protests were violently suppressed, giving rise to armed resistance groups that now fight alongside long-standing ethnic militias. Air strikes and ground offensives have intensified in the run-up to the vote, with witnesses reporting attacks on civilian areas.

There is no official death toll for the conflict, but monitoring group ACLED estimates that around 90,000 people have been killed since fighting erupted.

Even if a new parliament is formed, the military’s grip is constitutionally entrenched. A quarter of parliamentary seats are reserved for serving officers, giving the Tatmadaw an effective veto over constitutional change.

Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has also left open the possibility of transitioning from army chief to civilian president once the electoral process is complete — a move that critics say would further cement military dominance under a democratic label.