Voting in the first phase of Myanmar’s general elections concluded on Sunday, marking the first nationwide poll since the military takeover in 2021, local media reported.
Polling stations in 102 townships opened at 6 a.m. local time and closed at 4 p.m., according to Yangon-based outlet Eleven Myanmar. Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry said that 139 representatives from diplomatic missions and international election observer groups monitored the process.
The second and third phases of the elections are scheduled for January 11 and January 25. The Union Election Commission has established 21,517 polling stations nationwide.
Observers include representatives from Russia, China, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Cambodia, Vietnam, Nicaragua, India and the Myanmar-Japan Association.
The elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) was removed in 2021 following a military coup. The NLD had won the November 2020 general elections but was dissolved in 2023 along with several other parties. At least six political parties, fielding a total of 4,963 candidates, are participating in the current vote, while 57 parties are competing at the regional level.
The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party has fielded about 1,018 candidates.
After casting his ballot in Naypyidaw, junta leader and acting President Min Aung Hlaing said the elections were “free and fair,” according to local media. He declined to comment on whether he would seek the presidency, noting that the constitutional process would determine leadership after parliament convenes.
Myanmar’s bicameral parliament consists of 664 seats — 440 in the lower house and 224 in the upper house. The newly elected parliament is required to convene within three months to select its leadership and elect a president, who then appoints a prime minister.
Since the coup, Myanmar has experienced widespread armed conflict involving the military and various ethnic armed groups, resulting in thousands of deaths and more than 3.5 million displaced people.
The authorities have not yet announced a date for vote counting or the release of official results.
In a post on social media platform X, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar Tom Andrews urged the international community to reject the legitimacy of the elections, describing them as lacking credibility.
