Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing has told a meeting in Naypyitaw that elections must be held by January next year.
The military leader has repeatedly promised a general election since he seized power in a coup in 2021, claiming electoral fraud in the 2020 general election.
During his trip to Russia and Belarus this month he announced a likely time frame for an election.
He told Tuesday’s meeting that he plans to hold polls in the third and fourth weeks of December and the first and second weeks of January. “Elections must be completed successfully by January,” he was quoted as saying by the junta media.
His statement suggested that elections would be held in stages as the junta boss called for efforts to “initiate” elections in December, citing the post-independence elections which were held in three phases from 1950 to 1952 due to the civil war.
Amid the nationwide armed revolt against military rule, the regime conducted a “nationwide” population census late last year. But it admitted it could only complete headcounts in 145 out of 330 townships in the country. The civilian National Unity Government (NUG) said the regime only controls 32 percent of the country.
Min Aung Hlaing told his cabinet on Tuesday to focus on initiating the election, suggesting that elections will start in territories that the regime still controls.
He announced plans to introduce electronic voting machines “to prevent fraud” — an excuse that he used to grab power and annul the results of the 2020 general election, which international observers described as free and fair.
Min Aung Hlaing said he also plans to use a hybrid voting system combining first-past-the-post and proportional representation (PR). First past the post, which has been used since the 2010 general election, will still be used to elect the Lower House, but the PR will be adopted to elect the Upper House and the regional and state legislatures.
Observers are wondering if Min Aung Hlaing would take the presidency or remain the military chief — the position with the de facto power — after “voting” in January. They say an election is not the solution as the military-drafted 2008 Constitution allows Myanmar’s military to stage coups as it pleases.
Western countries, the NUG and other anti-regime groups say any election organized will be a sham to maintain the military’s grip on power.
There were 90 political parties at the time of the 2001 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.
