Held amid civil war, Myanmar's elections called neither free nor fair

Author: Devin Windelspecht, MSc

January 5, 2026

HRRC raises concern as to the likelihood of Myanmar’s elections, which are neither free nor fair, further entrenching the country’s authoritarianism. We stress that true democratic elections can only take place where a majority of Myanmar’s population can vote in security and without intimidation, and is offered a choice of competitive candidates and parties. 

Election Commission officials count ballots at a polling station during Myanmar's general election in Yangon, Myanmar, December 28, 2025. [Image credit: REUTERS/Stringer]

Ongoing elections in Myanmar, decried as neither free nor fair by the European Union and the United Nations, concluded the first of three phases on Tuesday, December 30th, with the military-backed governing political party claiming victory in 86% of seats contested in the first round. 

The election, the first to take place since the 2021 military coup that overthrew Myanmar’s democratic transition government, is to take place in three rounds due to the ongoing civil war , in which ethnic and pro-Democracy armed groups are actively fighting the Myanmar military in several parts of the country. The other two rounds are set to take place on January 11th and January 25th, 2026. 

25% of total seats in both Myanmar’s lower and upper houses of parliament are guaranteed to the military. The election results, if replicated across the subsequent rounds, would give the military the ability to install its chosen prime minister and government. 

The vote occurred as major opposition parties, including the party of former State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi – who led the country’s initial transition to democracy from 2016 to 2021, and who was overthrown and imprisoned in the 2021 coup – have been dissolved, leaving little alternative to the military-backed party. 

In response, voter turnout has reportedly experienced a massive decline since the last free and fair election in 2020 – when turnout stood at 70% of eligible voters – to around 52% of eligible voters,even as the military has arrested activists calling for a boycott of the election. Meanwhile, in 65 out of Myanmar’s 330 townships, no vote will be held at all, due to the regions being controlled or contested by rebel groups. 

International observers, including the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, have warned that the elections are taking place in an “environment of violence and repression” in which there are “no conditions for the exercise of the rights of freedom of expression, association or peaceful assembly.” Among other abuses in the lead-up to the vote, observers have described intimidation of voters by both the military and armed rebel groups and the criminalization of any criticism of the election, including on social media. 

The Myanmar military has been accused of targeting civilians, extrajudicial killings, the use of torture, and abductions, among other human rights abuses, over the course of the civil war. Rebel groups have also been accused of human rights abuses, especially toward the country’s Rohingya Muslim population.

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Glossary 

• Abduction – kidnapping. 

• Abuse – a violation of a person’s civil or human rights. 

• Authoritarian – a

• Boycott - refuse to participate in. 

• Contested – up for a vote in an election, or an area in which political and security control is not secured by either one of an opposing faction. 

• Coup – the overthrow of a government by force, often but not exclusively by the military. 

• Criminalization – making an action subject to criminal consequences, including fines or imprisonment. 

• Democratic transition government – a government installed to guide a country into full democracy, but something containing characteristics or members of a previous authoritarian government. 

• Eligible – having the ability to participate in a given activity. 

• Extrajudicial killings – the act of killing a person by the state without the person receiving a death penalty through a court of law. 

• Freedom of expression, association, or peaceful assembly – the right of citizens to criticize, peacefully organize, or protest their government. 

• Intimidation – using the threat of force or violence to push someone to take a desired outcome. 

• Lower and Upper House of Parliament – the two parts of a bicameral legislature. The lower house is often the largest of the two. 

• Opposition party – the political alternative to the current ruling government. 

• Repression – an environment where people’s rights are routinely violated. 

• Rohingya – an ethnic minority in Myanmar that is predominantly Muslim. They have suffered persecution and genocide in Myanmar throughout its periods of military rule, democratic transition, and the current civil war. The recognized start of the genocide of Rohingya began in 2016, when the government was led by Aang San Suu Kyi.

• Sham – false or fake. 

• State Counsellor - a title created by Aung San Suu Kyi following the country’s first democratic elections, as the political figure was barred from becoming president. The title de facto acted as head of state of Myanmar during the period between military rule. 

• Subsequent – following after. 

• Township – a region defined by the major town in the area.