The Union Election Commission (UEC), whose creation was mandated by the Myanmar military-drafted 2008 Constitution, turned 14 years old on March 11. The anniversary prompted the junta’s propaganda newspapers to claim that of all the polls held over the past 14 years, only those overseen by former generals were credible.
The March 12 issue of the junta’s papers published an article about the four election bodies formed between 2010 and 2024, focusing in particular on the 2010 election overseen by former Major General Thein Soe and the 2015 election overseen by former Lieutenant-General Tin Aye.
The article criticized the election body led by U Hla Thein, which was formed by the since-ousted National League for Democracy government to oversee the 2020 general election. The article repeated the regime’s justification for the coup, saying that electoral fraud during the 2020 poll necessitated the takeover.
In his message marking the 50th annual Mon State Day on Monday, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing repeated the allegation and claimed that the 2020 election was marred by fraud.
Under the constitution, the UEC is tasked with organizing and overseeing elections, designating constituencies, regulating political parties and electoral campaigns, compiling lists of voters, postponing elections in constituencies where free and fair elections can’t be held due to natural disasters or the local security situation, and resolving electoral disputes.
Between 2010 and 2024, the UEC oversaw three general elections and three by-elections.
Thein Soe’s commission
The article praised Thein Soe, the former military judge advocate-general who chaired the inaugural election body, for successfully holding the poll in 2010, the first since 1990.
The graduate of the 16th intake of the Defense Services Academy ensured the advance vote was manipulated to guarantee electoral victory for the military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Domestic and foreign observers were barred from covering the voting. The USDP’s victory in 2010 was again partly due to the fact that the NLD boycotted the poll.
Khin Maung Swe, the chairman of the National Democratic Force, who now sits on the central advisory board of the regime’s governing body, the State Administration Council, claimed that there were election irregularities in the 2010 poll.
The junta’s newspaper article mentioned none of those facts, and simply praised Thein Soe. The election was a success with 37 parties contesting it and 22 of them winning seats, the article said.
Tin Aye’s commission
The second UEC was led by former Lieutenant General Tin Aye. A by-election took place in 2012 under Tin Aye. Of 54 seats up for grabs, the NLD secured 43.
The commission also organized the 2015 general election. For the first time, international election observers were allowed to monitor the election process, and the commission also cooperated with international agencies, civil society organizations and political parties.
However, during the campaign period, the commission issued statements and warnings intended to restrict the campaign of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. U Tin Aye also accompanied then-President Thein Sein on his tours around the country. He also recruited ex-military officers to the election sub-commissions and said that instability could result in a coup. As a result, people harbored doubts as to the impartiality of the commission.
The Tin Aye-led election commission had little room to manipulate the vote amid greater transparency, growth of the media and CSOs, and popular support for the NLD. Tin Aye however stressed that the Myanmar military was playing a pivotal role in the country’s democratization, and warned that the military may need to seize power if there was no stability in the country.
At the time, the Myanmar military was calculating that the USDP would still manage to win at least 26 percent of seats, which would allow it to form the government with 25 percent of seats reserved for the military in the legislature. However, the NLD secured a landslide victory, winning more than 77 percent of the votes.
Tin Aye’s commission had no choice but to declare the NLD the winner. It was the country’s first civilian government in more than five decades, since the country’s first coup in 1962.
U Hla Thein’s commission
The NLD government established the first election commission consisting only of civilians, led by ex-rector of Meiktila University U Hla Thein. Other members were from legal and education circles.
The junta’s newspaper article made numerous accusations about U Hla Thein, who has been jailed since the coup. The article accused his commission of amending electoral laws in favor of the NLD, censoring the election manifestos of rival parties published on state-owned media, and so on. The article claimed that the constitution was unfair and the military takeover was in line with the law.
The NLD won 83 percent of votes in the 2020 poll in which 27 million people cast votes. Myanmar’s neighbor China was among the foreign countries that recognized the results of the vote. Domestic and international observers also said the polls were free and fair.
The Myanmar military made the same calculation, hoping that the USDP would manage to secure 26 percent of seats. But the party only won 6.4 percent of seats, which finally led to a military coup in February 2021.
Current USDP chair Khin Yi (then USDP vice chair) organized pro-military rallies in support of a coup.
Return of old faces
Thein Soe, who led the inaugural election body, became the UEC chief following the coup.
He then annulled the results of the 2020 general election, claiming the poll was “not free and fair.” His election body also adopted a new election law that effectively disallows smaller parties from participating in junta-proposed polls while dissolving major pro-democracy parties like the NLD. It has also introduced the proportional representation electoral system, which favors the USDP.
When Thein Soe retired on health grounds, he was succeeded by the junta’s religious affairs and culture minister, Ko Ko, who was part of the 10th intake of the Defense Services Academy.
The junta’s newspaper article underlined the current UEC’s vow to hold a free and fair election. It fools no one.
