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Polls open for military-ruled Myanmar’s first election in five years
Updated On: 28 December, 2025 09:42 AM IST | Yangon | AP
Critics charge that the election is designed to add a facade of legitimacy to military rule, which began after the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021
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People line up to vote inside a polling station during the first phase of Myanmar`s general election in Yangon. Pic/AFP
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Voters went to the polls on Sunday for the initial phase of Myanmar`s first general election in five years, held under the supervision of its military government while a civil war rages throughout much of the country. Critics charge that the election is designed to add a facade of legitimacy to military rule, which began after the army ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. Her party won a landslide victory in the 2020 election but was blocked from taking office for a second term. In Yangon, the country`s largest city, Naypyitaw, the capital, and elsewhere, voters were casting their ballots at high schools, government buildings and religious buildings. Critics argue that the results will lack legitimacy due to the exclusion of major parties and limits on freedom of speech and an atmosphere of repression. They contend that the expected victory of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party makes the nominal transition to civilian rule a chimera.
However, holding the election may provide an excuse for neighbours like China, India and Thailand to continue their support, claiming the election promotes stability. Western nations have maintained sanctions against Myanmar`s ruling generals due to their anti-democratic actions and the brutal war against their opponents. Security in Yangon, the country`s largest city, had visibly stiffened on Saturday, with armed guards stationed outside polling stations and military trucks patrolling the roads. Election officials set up equipment and installed electronic voting machines, which are being used for the first time in Myanmar. While opposition organisations and armed resistance groups had vowed to disrupt the electoral process, no major actions were carried out. Suu Kyi, Myanmar`s 80-year-old former leader, is not participating as she serves a 27-year prison term on charges widely viewed as politically motivated. Her party, the National League for Democracy, was dissolved in 2023 after refusing to register under new military rules.
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