Myanmar’s first post-coup election sees low turnout amid civil war and credibility concerns

Myanmar’s first general election since the 2021 military coup concluded its initial phase on Sunday amid ongoing civil war, widespread scepticism over its credibility, and signs of low voter turnout.

The military junta, which seized power four years ago after overthrowing the elected government, has claimed the phased polls would restore political stability to the conflict-hit Southeast Asian nation. However, the exercise has drawn strong criticism from the United Nations, Western governments and human rights groups, who say the vote is neither free nor fair. Opposition parties are largely barred, criticism of the election is illegal, and key political leaders remain detained.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory in the 2020 elections, continues to be held in custody, while her party has been dissolved. In contrast, the military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), led by retired generals and fielding around one-fifth of all candidates, is widely expected to dominate the polls.

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“The junta’s election is designed to prolong military control over the people,” said Lalita Hanwong, a Myanmar expert at Thailand’s Kasetsart University. She added that the USDP and other pro-military parties were likely to form the next government.

Campaigning ahead of the polls was subdued, with the USDP emerging as the most visible party. Founded in 2010, the party governed with military backing until 2015, when it was decisively defeated by the NLD.

Voter turnout appeared significantly lower than in previous elections, residents in several cities told Reuters. Further rounds of voting are scheduled for January 11 and January 25, covering 265 of Myanmar’s 330 townships, though the junta does not fully control all these areas.

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Myanmar remains engulfed in conflict, with armed resistance groups and long-standing ethnic militias fighting the military across large parts of the country. The violence has displaced around 3.6 million people and triggered one of Asia’s worst humanitarian crises. No date has yet been announced for the final election results.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing voted in the heavily guarded capital Naypyitaw, state media showed, but declined to comment on presidential ambitions, saying the post would be decided through parliamentary procedures.

The UN’s special envoy for human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, rejected the election outright, saying it offered no solution to the country’s crisis. While junta officials acknowledged international criticism, they insisted the polls would lead to stability and a “better future”.

Despite the absence of reports of forced voting, residents in major cities such as Yangon and Mandalay said turnout was far below the levels seen in the 2015 and 2020 elections, when participation stood at around 70 percent. In conflict-hit regions, some communities openly boycotted the vote, with residents saying they had little faith in the process.