Next Myanmar General Election
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Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
's military government plans to hold a
general election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from By-election, by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. Gener ...
for elected seats in the
Amyotha Hluttaw The Amyotha Hluttaw (, ; House of Nationalities) is the ''de jure'' upper house of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the bicameral legislature of Myanmar (Burma). It consists of 224 members, of which 168 are directly elected and 56 appointed by the Myan ...
and the
Pyithu Hluttaw The Pyithu Hluttaw (, ; House of Representatives) is the ''de jure'' lower house of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the bicameral legislature of Myanmar (Burma). It consists of 440 members, of which 330 are directly elected through the first-past-the ...
of the
Assembly of the Union The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw ( , ) is the ''de jure'' national-level bicameral legislature of Myanmar established by the 2008 National Constitution. The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw is made up of two houses, the 224-seat Amyotha Hluttaw, or "House of Natio ...
, currently dissolved, on a date to be determined. The planned election would be the first after the 2021 military coup d'état. Though military ruler
Min Aung Hlaing Min Aung Hlaing (born 3 July 1956) is a Burmese army general who has ruled Myanmar as the chairman of the State Administration Council, chairman of the State Administration Council (SAC) since seizing power in the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, Fe ...
initially promised to hold the election by August 2023, the military has since indefinitely delayed the election in the face of increasing violence. Since the coup, the military has ruled the country under a
state of emergency A state of emergency is a situation in which a government is empowered to put through policies that it would normally not be permitted to do, for the safety and protection of its citizens. A government can declare such a state before, during, o ...
, initially declared by Acting President
Myint Swe Myint Swe (; ; born 5 June 1950) is a Burmese politician and retired army officer who has been Vice President of Myanmar since 30 March 2016 and previously served as Acting President of Myanmar from 1 February 2021 to 22 July 2024. He also s ...
for one year and extended seven times by six-month periods, currently set to expire on 1 August 2025. The constitution requires elections be held within six months of the end of the state of emergency. Min Aung Hlaing has provided different time frames for the election three times; an exact date has never been set. Most recently, in March 2025, Min Aung Hlaing suggested a possible December 2025 or January 2026 election date. This timeline has been reaffirmed despite the
2025 Myanmar earthquake On 28 March 2025 at 12:50:52 Myanmar Time, MMT (06:20:52 UTC), a 7.7–7.9 earthquake struck the Sagaing Region of Myanmar, with an epicenter close to Mandalay, the country's second-largest city. The strike-slip shock achieved a maximum Modif ...
. The election is expected to be a
sham election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...
intended to legitimize continued military rule. A census that will be used for the election was conducted in October 2024. In January 2023, the military enacted a new electoral law tightening the requirements for party registration, banning the participation of people convicted of a crime including
Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...
and
Win Myint Win Myint ( ; born 8 November 1951) is a Burmese politician who served as the tenth president of Myanmar from 2018 to 2021, when he was removed from office in the 2021 coup d'état. He was the speaker of the House of Representatives from 2016 ...
, and switching from a
first-past-the-post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...
to a
proportional system Proportionality, proportion or proportional may refer to: Mathematics * Proportionality (mathematics), the property of two variables being in a multiplicative relation to a constant * Ratio, of one quantity to another, especially of a part compare ...
. Analysts see the changes as intended to improve the electoral performance of the military proxy
Union Solidarity and Development Party The Union Solidarity and Development Party (; abbr. USDP) is an ultranationalist, pro-military political party in Myanmar. Alongside the National League for Democracy, it is one of Myanmar's two principal national parties. USDP is the succe ...
, which performed poorly in the free and fair 2020 election. Most opposition to the USDP will be seriously weakened under the new rules. Added to the previously existing 25% reserved seats to the military, the switch to proportional representation would allow it to govern with just over a third of the popular vote. The
National League for Democracy The National League for Democracy (, ; Abbreviation, abbr. NLD; Burmese abbr. ဒီချုပ်) is a deregistered liberal democratic political party in Myanmar (formerly Burma). It became the country's ruling party after a landslide victo ...
, which was removed from power in the coup, announced in February 2023 that it would not register under the new law, and was declared dissolved by the election commission the following month. The second-largest opposition party, the
Shan Nationalities League for Democracy The Shan Nationalities League for Democracy (; ; ; abbreviated as SNLD) is a de-registered political party in Myanmar (Burma). The party was established on 26 October 1988, and campaigns for the interests of the Shan people. The SNLD became the ...
, similarly announced it would not participate in the election.


Background

Myanmar, previously known as Burma, has been under a dictatorship for the majority of its independent history. First, under
Ne Win Ne Win (; ; 24 May 1911 – 5 December 2002), born Shu Maung (; ), was a Burmese army general, politician and Prime Minister of Burma from 1958 to 1960 and 1962 to 1974, and also President of Burma from 1962 to 1981. Ne Win was Burma's mili ...
and his
Burma Socialist Programme Party The Burma Socialist Programme Party (BSPP) was the ruling party of Burma (now Myanmar) from 1962 to 1988 and the country's sole legal party from 1964 to 1988. Party chairman Ne Win overthrew the country's democratically elected government i ...
, and then under a
military junta A military junta () is a system of government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''Junta (governing body), junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the Junta (Peninsular War), national and local junta organized by t ...
. In the early 2010s, Myanmar transitioned into a state of semi-democracy, finally culminating in the
2015 elections Africa * 2015 Beninese parliamentary election 26 April 2015 * 2015 Burkinabé general election 29 November 2015 * 2015 Burundian legislative election 29 June 2015 * 2015 Burundian presidential election 21 July 2015 * 2015-16 Central African gene ...
, where democracy leader
Aung San Suu Kyi Aung San Suu Kyi (born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and political activist. She was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. She served as State Counsellor of Myanmar and Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Myanmar), Ministe ...
became State Counsellor, and her party the
National League for Democracy The National League for Democracy (, ; Abbreviation, abbr. NLD; Burmese abbr. ဒီချုပ်) is a deregistered liberal democratic political party in Myanmar (formerly Burma). It became the country's ruling party after a landslide victo ...
won a landslide victory.


2020 election performance

On the eve of the November 2020 election, Min Aung Hlaing publicly questioned the legitimacy of the upcoming 2020 election. After casting his ballot, he vowed to accept the election results. In the 2020 general elections, the NLD won another landslide over the
Tatmadaw The Tatmadaw, also known as the Sit-Tat, is the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include ...
(military)-backed
Union Solidarity and Development Party The Union Solidarity and Development Party (; abbr. USDP) is an ultranationalist, pro-military political party in Myanmar. Alongside the National League for Democracy, it is one of Myanmar's two principal national parties. USDP is the succe ...
, which lost additional seats in both chambers of the national legislature. Domestic and international election observers deemed the election results credible, noting no major irregularities. Nonetheless, the military claimed the vote was fraudulent, citing 8.6 million irregularities in voter lists. On 28 January 2021, the
Union Election Commission The Union Election Commission (, abbreviated UEC) is the national level electoral commission of Myanmar (Burma), responsible for organising and overseeing elections in Burma, as well as vetting parliamentary candidates and political parties. ...
rejected the military's fraud allegations, unable to corroborate the military's claims.


2021 military coup

On 1 February 2021, the military launched a coup. Suu Kyi was detained, along with
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
Win Myint Win Myint ( ; born 8 November 1951) is a Burmese politician who served as the tenth president of Myanmar from 2018 to 2021, when he was removed from office in the 2021 coup d'état. He was the speaker of the House of Representatives from 2016 ...
, and other key individuals. Senior General
Min Aung Hlaing Min Aung Hlaing (born 3 July 1956) is a Burmese army general who has ruled Myanmar as the chairman of the State Administration Council, chairman of the State Administration Council (SAC) since seizing power in the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, Fe ...
took power, organizing a junta called the
State Administration Council The State Administration Council (; abbreviated SAC or နစက) is the military junta currently governing Myanmar, established by Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Min Aung Hlaing following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, February 2021 c ...
(SAC).
Myint Swe Myint Swe (; ; born 5 June 1950) is a Burmese politician and retired army officer who has been Vice President of Myanmar since 30 March 2016 and previously served as Acting President of Myanmar from 1 February 2021 to 22 July 2024. He also s ...
was declared interim President, and a state of emergency was declared for one year. In late February, the SAC unveiled a five-point roadmap, with the ultimate goal of holding "a free and fair multiparty democracy election." Aung San Suu Kyi received a number of frivolous charges, including breaching emergency COVID-19 laws, illegally importing and using walkie-talkies, violating the National Disaster Law, violating communications laws, inciting public unrest, and violating the official secrets act. On 6 December 2021, she was sentenced to four years in prison, but Min Aung Hlaing commuted her sentence to two years. Her conviction complicates her ability to hold public office. On 1 August 2021, Min Aung Hlaing formed a
caretaker government A caretaker government, also known as a caretaker regime, is a temporary ''ad hoc'' government that performs some governmental duties and functions in a country until a regular government is elected or formed. Depending on specific practice, it co ...
, and declared himself
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
, whilst remaining the Chairman of the SAC. The
Tatmadaw The Tatmadaw, also known as the Sit-Tat, is the armed forces of Myanmar (formerly Burma). It is administered by the Ministry of Defence and composed of the Myanmar Army, the Myanmar Navy and the Myanmar Air Force. Auxiliary services include ...
originally promised to hold the elections when the state of emergency expired on 1 February 2022, but pushed back the elections first to 2023, and the delayed them indefinitely.


Dissolution of the NLD

On 21 May 2021, the junta-appointed
Union Election Commission The Union Election Commission (, abbreviated UEC) is the national level electoral commission of Myanmar (Burma), responsible for organising and overseeing elections in Burma, as well as vetting parliamentary candidates and political parties. ...
announced plans to permanently dissolve the National League for Democracy. NLD offices were occupied and raided by police authorities, starting on 2 February. Documents, computers and laptops were forcibly seized, and the NLD called these raids unlawful. On 9 February, police raided the NLD headquarters in Yangon. Aung San Suu Kyi has commented on the possibility of her party's forced dissolution saying, "Our party grew out of the people so it will exist as long as people support it." In January 2022, the junta reversed its plan to dissolve the NLD, with spokesman Zaw Min Tun saying that the NLD will decide whether to stand in the 2023 election. In February 2023, the NLD announced it would not re-register as a political party under a strict new electoral law enacted by the junta the previous month. The electoral commission automatically disbanded NLD, along with 39 other parties, on 28 March 2023.


Electoral system

Previously, Myanmar has exclusively used the
first-past-the-post First-past-the-post (FPTP)—also called choose-one, first-preference plurality (FPP), or simply plurality—is a single-winner voting rule. Voters mark one candidate as their favorite, or First-preference votes, first-preference, and the cand ...
system, in which a candidate needs only a
plurality Plurality may refer to: Law and politics * Plurality decision, in a decision by a multi-member court, an opinion held by more judges than any other but not by an overall majority * Plurality (voting), when a candidate or proposition polls more ...
of votes in a constituency to be elected. On 16 June 2022, Khin Maung Oo, a member of the
Union Election Commission The Union Election Commission (, abbreviated UEC) is the national level electoral commission of Myanmar (Burma), responsible for organising and overseeing elections in Burma, as well as vetting parliamentary candidates and political parties. ...
, said at a press conference in
Naypyidaw Naypyidaw (), officially Romanization of Burmese, romanized as Nay Pyi Taw (NPT), is the capital city, capital and third-largest city of Myanmar. The city is located at the centre of the Naypyidaw Union Territory. It is unusual among Myanmar's ...
that the country will use a
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...
system instead for the next election.


Existing system

In the existing system, the national legislature, the
Pyidaungsu Hluttaw The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw ( , ) is the ''de jure'' national-level bicameral legislature of Myanmar established by the 2008 National Constitution. The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw is made up of two houses, the 224-seat Amyotha Hluttaw, or "House of Nation ...
consists of a total of 498 seats elected in single-member constituencies, and 166 seats reserved for military appointees. The
Pyithu Hluttaw The Pyithu Hluttaw (, ; House of Representatives) is the ''de jure'' lower house of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the bicameral legislature of Myanmar (Burma). It consists of 440 members, of which 330 are directly elected through the first-past-the ...
, or House of Representatives, is elected every five years. It is the lower house. It has 440 MPs, 330 of which are elected in single-member constituencies, one for each township. A further 110 members (one quarter) are appointed by the Tatmadaw. The
Amyotha Hluttaw The Amyotha Hluttaw (, ; House of Nationalities) is the ''de jure'' upper house of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, the bicameral legislature of Myanmar (Burma). It consists of 224 members, of which 168 are directly elected and 56 appointed by the Myan ...
, or House of Nationalities, is elected every five years. It is the upper house. It has 224 MPs, 168 of which are elected in single-member constituencies, 12 in each state or region. A further 56 members (one quarter) are appointed by the Tatmadaw. In Myanmar, it is not uncommon for elections to be cancelled partially or completely in some constituencies due to
insurrection Rebellion is an uprising that resists and is organized against one's government. A rebel is a person who engages in a rebellion. A rebel group is a consciously coordinated group that seeks to gain political control over an entire state or a ...
. After the new legislators take office, the
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
and the two
Vice Presidents A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice ...
of Myanmar are elected by the
Presidential Electoral College The Presidential Electoral College () is an electoral college made up of MPs that elects the President of Myanmar. Composition It consists of three separate committees: #MPs who represent the proportions of MPs elected from each Region or State ( ...
, made up of MPs from three committees: one of elected members from each house of the Assembly of the Union, and one from the military-appointed members. Each committee recommends one candidate, and the Assembly then holds a vote. The position the candidates are elected to depends on their overall vote total (the highest vote-getter becomes President, while the second-highest becomes First Vice President, and the remaining candidate becomes Second Vice President). People married to a non-Burmese citizen and/or who have children without Burmese citizenship are barred from being elected to any presidential position. This requirement has been criticized by some as being an attempt to disqualify Suu Kyi. Her late husband was a British citizen, so she was ineligible to be President. Instead, she became State Counsellor, and President
Win Myint Win Myint ( ; born 8 November 1951) is a Burmese politician who served as the tenth president of Myanmar from 2018 to 2021, when he was removed from office in the 2021 coup d'état. He was the speaker of the House of Representatives from 2016 ...
was seen as her puppet.


Revisions to the existing system

In December 2021, the junta-appointed Union Electoral Commission convened with 60 political parties on the electoral system. The cohort determined that it would be advisable to switch to a system of
party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a system of proportional representation based on preregistered Political party, political parties, with each party being Apportionment (politics), allocated a certain number of seats Apportionm ...
(PR). The
largest remainder method Party-list proportional representation Apportionment methods The quota or divide-and-rank methods make up a category of apportionment rules, i.e. algorithms for allocating seats in a legislative body among multiple groups (e.g. parties or f ...
will be used, and the lists will be
closed Closed may refer to: Mathematics * Closure (mathematics), a set, along with operations, for which applying those operations on members always results in a member of the set * Closed set, a set which contains all its limit points * Closed interval, ...
, although there may be a switch to
open list Open list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a Political party, party's candidates are elected. This is as opposed to closed list, in which party lists ...
s "when the level of education of the electorate and the political tide rises". The townships will be merged into districts for constituencies. Observers and anti-junta factions have criticized the change in electoral system for politically motivated, aimed at increasing the junta's electoral performance. In 2014, the Amyotha Hluttaw had previously approved a switch to the PR system, but it was not pursued further by the Pyithu Hluttaw for being "unconstitutional." The PR system also implies larger multi-member constituencies, which could enable the military to avoid having to cancel elections in insecure regions. On 26 January 2023, the military junta issued the Political Parties Registration Law to force political parties to re-register within 60 days, or face automatic dissolution. The law also introduced new financial (possessing at least in funds), party membership (having 100,000 members, an increase from 1,000), and logistical requirements (contesting half of all constituencies and operating party offices in half of all townships), effectively aimed at limiting electoral participation to few national parties like the USDP. The NLD and SNLD, and 38 other parties were both disbanded by the law on 28 March.


Conduct

The election is expected by independent analysts and foreign bodies, including those at the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...
,
Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
, and the
U.S. State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs ...
, to be neither free nor fair, and rather a
sham election An election is a formal group decision-making process whereby a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has operated ...
intended to legitimize further military rule. The
Union Election Commission The Union Election Commission (, abbreviated UEC) is the national level electoral commission of Myanmar (Burma), responsible for organising and overseeing elections in Burma, as well as vetting parliamentary candidates and political parties. ...
(UEC) organises and oversees in Myanmar. During the 2021 coup, Hla Thein, the civilian-appointed UEC chair was arrested by military authorities, and subsequently sentenced to prison. The military junta replaced him with Thein Soe, a former military general who had previously overseen the
2010 Myanmar general election General elections were held in Myanmar on 2010, in accordance with the new constitution, which was approved in a referendum held in . The election date was announced by the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC) on . The elections were th ...
. Some have expressed concerns about the Tatmadaw's willingness to hold free and fair elections. Although the past three elections in Myanmar have been semi-free, there have been concerns over such things as irregularities in voter lists, misinformation,
fake news Fake news or information disorder is false or misleading information (misinformation, disinformation, propaganda, and hoaxes) claiming the aesthetics and legitimacy of news. Fake news often has the aim of damaging the reputation of a person ...
, and the vilification of
Burmese Muslims Islam is a minority religion in Myanmar, practised by about 4.3% of the population, according to the 2014 Myanmar official statistics. History In the early Bagan era (AD 652-660), Arab Muslim merchants landed at ports such as Thaton and Marta ...
. In addition, under the military-designed 2008 Constitution, the military is effectively guaranteed one vice presidency, and a quarter of the seats in both chambers of the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, veto power over voter-elected legislators, as well as a third of the seats in all state and regional Hluttaws, and key ministries. Some members of the NLD dominated Pyidaungsu Hluttaw elected in 2020 have formed an anti-cabinet known as the
National Unity Government of Myanmar The National Unity Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (; abbreviated NUG) is a provisional government for Myanmar formed by the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a group of elected lawmakers and Member of parliam ...
. The NUG claims to be the legitimate government of Myanmar, and the junta and the NUG consider each other terrorist groups. The coup has since escalated into a
Myanmar civil war (2021–present) The Myanmar civil war (Burmese language, Burmese: မြန်မာ့ပြည်တွင်းစစ်),, also known as the Burmese civil war, is an ongoing civil war since 2021. It began following Myanmar conflict, Myanmar's long-runni ...
between the Armed Forces, and the NUG's People's Defence Force and ethnic armed organisations (EAOs), resulting in thousands of military and civilian casualties, and the displacement of an additional 1.7 million people . This, along with ongoing ethnic conflicts, means the vote will likely be cancelled in some constituencies, and may not be secure in others. The planned election may trigger an escalation in violence, due to widespread public opposition. Since January 2023, resistance forces have attacked and killed individuals associated with the planned election, including local administrators gathering data for voter lists. On 29 January, the NUG declared that individuals cooperating with the election would be deemed "accomplices of high treason." Major EAOs, including the
Chin National Front The Chin National Front (; CNF) is a Chin people, Chin Nationalism, nationalist political organization in Myanmar. According to its website, its armed wing, the Chin National Army (CNA), fights the government of Myanmar. The group was founded on 20 ...
, Karenni National Progressive Party,
Karen National Union The Karen National Union (; abbreviated KNU) is a political organisation with an armed wing, the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA), that claims to represent the Karen people of Myanmar. It operates in mountainous eastern Myanmar and has un ...
,
Kachin Independence Organisation The Kachin Independence Organisation (abbreviated KIO; ; Kachin: , "Sovereign Kachin nation state") is a Kachin political organisation in Myanmar (Burma). Founded in 1961, KIO seeks autonomy for Kachin State and operates a de facto parallel ...
, and the Ta-ang National Liberation Army, have also criticised the planned election.


Timing

The election date has not been officially announced. The Constitution requires that elections be held within six months of the end of a declared state of emergency, which the military has extended repeatedly since the 2021 coup. In 2021, Min Aung Hlaing initially promised an election by August 2023, saying one would be held "without fail". This was the latest date that would have been allowed under the constitutional rule stating two six month extensions of the state of emergency are "normally" allowed. However, the election was not held and the state of emergency was repeatedly extended past the two-extension limit. In 2024, Min Aung Hlaing announced that a census would be held between October 1 and 15 and promised to hold the election in 2025. The census began as scheduled on October 1. During a visit in
Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...
on March 8, 2025, Min Aung Hlaing announced that the election will be conducted around December 2025 or January 2026. On March 26, state media reported that at a meeting of the State Administration Council, Min Aung Hlaing set a plan for the election to be held either in the last two weeks of December or in the first two weeks of January. On March 27, in a speech for Armed Forces Day, Min Aung Hlaing appeared to narrow the date to December. Despite the highly destabilizing
2025 Myanmar earthquake On 28 March 2025 at 12:50:52 Myanmar Time, MMT (06:20:52 UTC), a 7.7–7.9 earthquake struck the Sagaing Region of Myanmar, with an epicenter close to Mandalay, the country's second-largest city. The strike-slip shock achieved a maximum Modif ...
that occurred the next day, Min Aung Hlaing said on April 3 that the timeline for the election would not change. In addition to ongoing security concerns, the election date may have also been delayed to forestall infighting within the Burmese military leadership around
succession planning Succession planning is a process and strategy for replacement planning or passing on leadership roles. It is used to identify and develop new, potential leaders who can move into leadership roles when they become vacant. Succession planning in ...
. It remains unclear if Min Aung Hlaing will remain commander-in-chief or seek the presidency, and whether he can appoint a loyal candidate to either role, since the Constitution does not permit him to assume both.


Reactions

In March 2023, the governments of the United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Japan, France, Germany, and Australia strongly condemned the military junta's dissolution of the NLD and other political parties. The US and Germany stated they expect the election will not be free and fair. The German government posited that the junta's moves threaten to escalate violence in the country, and further destabilise the country. Japan's
ministry of foreign affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...
called for the release of all NLD officials, and noted the NLD's exclusion will hamper attempts to peacefully improve the country's political situation. Australia's
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) is the department of the Australian government responsible for foreign policy and international relations, development aid (under the name Australian Aid), consular services, overseas trad ...
characterised the junta's moves as a "further narrowing of political space in Myanmar." The European Union reiterated its support for ASEAN's Five-Point Consensus.


Political parties

The table below lists parties that managed to elect representatives to the
Pyidaungsu Hluttaw The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw ( , ) is the ''de jure'' national-level bicameral legislature of Myanmar established by the 2008 National Constitution. The Pyidaungsu Hluttaw is made up of two houses, the 224-seat Amyotha Hluttaw, or "House of Nation ...
in 2020 that have registered to contest the next election. Most parties in Myanmar represent one of the country's many ethnic minorities. The table below lists political parties that were dissolved by the junta, including the NLD and SNLD, that won 88% of the national parliamentary seats in the 2020 election.


References

{{Myanmar elections Elections in Myanmar
Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...
Military rule in Myanmar