Elections in a War: Myanmar’s “Democratic” Test

In February 2021, the Tatmadaw, Myanmar’s military, launched a coup that destroyed the fragile state of its democracy. The military detained members of the National League for Democracy, like State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, who had won the November 2020 elections by a landslide, although the military claimed it was through electoral fraud; others did not notice the same. 

After the coup, Myanmar plunged into a brutal civil war, with the military violently cracking down on peaceful protests from the People’s Defense Forces, thousands of young people holding in a resistance movement. This worsened to involve armed ethnic groups across the country’s borders with Bangladesh, India, China and Thailand. This civil war has gone on to kill and estimated 90,000 people and displaced over 3.5 million people. If it wasn’t bad enough that people have lost their lives, more than 22,00 people have been detained for political offenses, and over 7,500 have been killed by the security forces after the coup in  Myanmar. While State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other officials are jailed and serving sentences for charges that are considered politically motivated, the officials are denying it. Their party, the NLD, was dissolved in 2023, not agreeing to register under the new military’s rules. 

On December 28, 2025,  Myanmar held the first phase of its general elections. This was the first vote the country has held in the last 5 years, since the coup. Though many people all over the world are calling it a sham, that instead of trying to restore democracy, it is instead trying to legitimize the military’s rule. The voting will take place across three stages throughout December and January, taking place in only about one-third of the country’s 330 townships; it has been canceled in 65 townships because of ongoing military conflicts. The reason that many consider this election to be a sham is that the current electoral framework in Myanmar heavily favors the Union Solidarity and Development Party, which is considered the military’s proxy party. Not just that, but the military tightened and placed new electoral laws like restrictions on party registration and switched to a proportional representation system, which benefits the USDP, as well as 25% of the parliamentary seats being reserved for the military, giving the military a third of the popular vote. 

The civil war isn’t over because the military is forcing people to vote while simultaneously attacking armed opposition groups and issuing threats, causing people to boycott the polls. Additionally, the military has passed acts like the “Election Protection Law,” which can land someone a minimum of three years in prison and a maximum of death for any criticism or interference with the election. There is also a huge humanitarian crisis; nearly 20 million people, almost 40% of Myanmar’s population, need humanitarian assistance, with half the population below the poverty line and 12 million people predicted to face acute hunger. With Myanmar’s Democracy on the line, the suffering of the people ensures their plight will be ignored in this sham election.

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• Michael Sullivan, NPR

• Staff, CBC

• Ross Adkin, Ivan Watson, Dan Hodge, CNN

• Staff, NY Times

• Staff, NBC

• Staff, Reuters