Myanmar holds first election since military seized power but critics say the vote is a sham

The military government has presented the vote as a return to democracy, but its bid for legitimacy is marred by the absence of formerly popular opposition parties and reports that soldiers used threats to force voters’ participation.

Military-backed party favored

While more than 4,800 candidates from 57 parties are competing for seats in national and regional legislatures, only six are competing nationwide with the possibility to gain political clout in parliament. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party is by far the strongest contender.

Voting is taking place in three phases, with Sunday’s first round being held in 102 of Myanmar’s 330 townships. Subsequent phases will take place on Jan. 11 and Jan. 25, but 65 townships won't participate in the election because of ongoing armed conflicts.

Final results are expected to be announced by February. It wasn't clear if or when the authorities would release aggregate figures of Sunday's voting, although counts were publicly announced at local polling stations.

Critics of the current system say that the election is designed to add a facade of legitimacy to the status quo. Military rule began when soldiers ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. It blocked her National League for Democracy party from serving a second term despite winning a landslide victory in the 2020 election.

They argue that the results will lack legitimacy because of the exclusion of major parties and government repression.

‘Theater of the absurd’

The expected victory of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party makes the nominal transition to civilian rule a chimera, say opponents of military rule and independent analysts.

“An election organized by a junta that continues to bomb civilians, jail political leaders, and criminalize all forms of dissent is not an election — it is a theater of the absurd performed at gunpoint,” Tom Andrews, the U.N.-appointed human rights expert for Myanmar, posted on X.

However, the election may provide an excuse for neighbors like China, India and Thailand to say that the vote represents progress toward stability. Western nations have maintained sanctions against Myanmar’s ruling generals because of the military’s anti-democratic actions and the brutal war against opponents.

According to a count carried out at one polling station in Yangon after the polls closed, only 524 of 1,431 registered voters — just under 37% — cast their ballots.

Of those, 311 voted for the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party, suggesting that opposition calls for a voter boycott may have been heeded.

Khin Marlar, 51, who cast her ballot in Yangon’s Kyauktada township, said that she felt that she should vote, because she hoped that peace would follow afterward. She explained that she had fled her village in the town of Thaungta in the central Mandalay region because of the fighting.

“I am voting with the feeling that I will go back to my village when it is peaceful,” she told The Associated Press.

Voter intimidation reports

A resident of southern Mon state, who asked to be identified only by her first name, Khin, for fear of arrest by the military, told the AP that she felt compelled to go to a polling station because of pressure from local authorities.

“I have to go and vote even though I don’t want to, because soldiers showed up with guns to our village to pressure us yesterday,” Khin said, echoing reports from independent media and rights groups.

Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s 80-year-old former leader, and her party aren't participating in the polls. She is serving a 27-year prison term on charges widely viewed as spurious and politically motivated. Her party, the National League for Democracy, was dissolved in 2023 after refusing to register under new military rules.

Other parties also refused to register or declined to run under conditions they deem unfair, and opposition groups have called for a voter boycott.

Amael Vier, an analyst for the Asian Network for Free Elections, noted a lack of genuine choice, pointing out that 73% of voters in 2020 cast ballots for parties that no longer exist.

Violence and repression

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 22,000 people are currently detained for political offenses, and more than 7,600 civilians have been killed by security forces since 2021.

Armed resistance arose after the army used lethal force to crush nonviolent protests against its 2021 takeover. The ensuing civil war has left more than 3.6 million people displaced, according to the U.N.

A new Election Protection Law imposes harsh penalties and restrictions for virtually all public criticism of the polls.

There were no reports of major interference with the polls, though opposition organizations and armed resistance groups had vowed to disrupt the electoral process.

Both the military and its opponents believe power is likely to remain with Min Aung Hlaing, who led the 2021 seizure of power.

“I am the commander in chief. I am a civil servant. I cannot say that I want to serve as a president. I am not the leader of a political party,” he told journalists after casting his vote. “There is a process for electing a president from parliament only when it is convened. I think it is appropriate to speak about it only then.”

Grant Peck reported from Bangkok.