Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing says opposition forces should work with Myanmar’s regime to create a multi-party democracy and Russia and Belarus will send observers to oversee his promised election.
He spoke to the junta’s media on his way back to Naypyitaw on Sunday after a week in Russia and Belarus.
“If you want a multi-party democracy, don’t obstruct us. All we need is cooperation,” he said.
The senior general said rebel armies should focus on what is possible and what should be done, rather than their hopes.
Western countries, the civilian National Unity Government and other anti-regime groups say any election will be a sham to maintain the regime’s grip on power.
Min Aung Hlaing told Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that an election would be held by December or early January at the latest. It was the most specific Min Aung Hlaing has been with dates after making numerous promises for a general election since the 2001 coup.
Junta spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun repeated Min Aung Hlaing’s late December or early January electoral timeframe.
The regime’s latest six-month state of emergency expires in late July when, under the 2008 Constitution, the regime should return power to the National Defense and Security Council. The council then has until January to hold a general election.
New governments normally begin their term in April, suggesting the regime may follow this timeline.
However, the regime has lost control of most of the country, including two command headquarters.
Min Aung Hlaing previously promised staggered elections in areas where security can be ensured. Elections were held in three phases between 1950 and 1952 due to internal conflicts following independence in 1948.
There were 90 political parties at the time of the 2021 coup but restrictions under the upgraded Political Parties Registration Law meant 40 parties, including the National League for Democracy and Shan Nationalities League for Democracy, refused to register.
Currently, 53 parties, including the military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party and the People’s Party, led by former pro-democracy activist Ko Ko Gyi, are registered with the junta’s Union Election Commission.
No legislation has been enacted ahead of a possible election.
