Google Alert – BD Army
Myanmar’s military junta announced on Monday the date of the first round of elections, 28 December, four years after it seized power in February 2021 by ousting the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
This multi-phase election has already been harshly criticised by international NGOs and Western governments, who call it a sham vote used only to boost the military grip on the Southeast Asian country.
Compounded by ethnic and religious strife, starting with the Rohingya emergency, and ravaged by a brutal civil war, Myanmar now faces a severe food crisis comparable to that in Gaza, but one that has been largely ignored hitherto.
The military repeatedly delayed plans to hold a vote under the pretext of containing the uprising of armed ethnic groups linked to the exiled opposition, who control parts of the country.
According to state media, at least 55 parties have already registered for the election, nine of which intend to compete for seats nationwide.
The dates for the subsequent rounds of voting, which the authorities plan to hold in December and January for security reasons, will be announced later, this according to the Myanmar Union Election Commission.
“The first phase of the multi-party democratic general election for each parliament will begin on Sunday, 28 December 2025,” Myanmar’s election commission said in a statement. “Dates for the subsequent phases will be announced later.”
Analysts point out that with the country in a state of war and much of its territory under opposition control, so holding elections will be a formidable logistical task for the military.
Despite this, junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing, who led the catastrophic coup, said the vote must go ahead and threatened severe punishment for anyone who criticises or obstructs his project.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), which won by a wide margin in the two election rounds before the coup, will not be allowed to participate in this vote.
The planned elections have been widely rejected by the international community, but have the support of Myanmar’s more powerful neighbour, China, which views Myanmar’s stability as a vital strategic interest.
For critics, the junta will use the elections to stay in power through proxy political parties. Tom Andrews, the UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, accused the junta in June of planning a “mirage of an election exercise” to give itself a semblance of legitimacy.
Since the coup, thousands of people have been killed across Myanmar, while the economy in most of the country has been destroyed, leaving a humanitarian vacuum.
This situation has been compounded by last March’s devastating earthquake and cuts in international funding, which have left the country and many of its inhabitants in desperate conditions.
The situation is particularly dire in the western state of Rakhine, one of the most war-torn states and the site of the Rohingya emergency, with the World Food Programme (WFP) launching an urgent appeal for more donations to avert a “disaster.”
Among the displaced are 140,000 members of the Muslim minority who have been living in camps since fleeing their villages, which were engulfed in fighting in 2012. The blockade and isolation imposed by the military also make the situation worse than in many other parts of the country.
The WFP reports a 60 per cent drop in global funding this year compared to 2024 and says it can only feed 20 per cent of those in the country facing severe food insecurity.
“People are trapped in a vicious cycle – cut off by conflict, stripped of livelihoods, and left with no humanitarian safety net,” stressed Michael Dunford, the WFP Representative in Myanmar.
The junta recently signed a US$ 3 million contract with the Washington-based lobbying firm DCI Group, to rebuild relations with the United States. The deal also aims to help the military gain international legitimacy amid a civil war.
The contract, signed last 31 July, coincided with the nominal transfer of power from the junta to the State Security and Peace Commission (NSPC), a civilian-led interim government set up by General Min Aung Hlaing, ahead of the vote. For all intents and purposes, General Min Aung Hlaing remains in charge as acting president and commander-in-chief of the armed forces.
The contract was signed by DCI Group managing partners Justin Peterson and Brian McCabe, both former Trump administration officials. The group has a controversial history with Myanmar, having worked for the military junta in the early 2000s under former intelligence chief Khin Nyunt until his ouster in 2004.
The group’s clientele includes several authoritarian governments, like Azerbaijan, and previously sanctioned Russian companies.
As part of its Foreign Agents Registration Act filing, the DCI Group will provide “public affairs services” focused on “rebuilding relations between the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and the United States, with a focus on trade, natural resources, and humanitarian relief.”
The lobbying agreement follows the Trump administration’s controversial decision in July to lift sanctions on several allies of the Myanmar junta, including arms dealers and military-linked businesses.