Myanmar's military leader, Min Aung Hlaing, has announced that the promised general election will not take place until at least 2025. He revealed this during a cabinet meeting on September 1, stating that the election will follow a national census scheduled for October next year. This means that the election, which had been promised after the 2021 coup, will be postponed until 2025 at the earliest.
In a previous cabinet meeting in August, Min Aung Hlaing cited ongoing armed conflicts as a factor causing delays in election planning.
Despite extending emergency rule for an additional six months in August, the regime has recently taken steps towards preparing for the election. Changes to its five-point roadmap now prioritize holding the election as the ultimate goal.
The junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) showcased the Myanmar Electronic Voting Machine to Min Aung Hlaing. Nearly 6,000 civil servants from 29 ministries have tested these machines since February. The UEC also met with representatives of 35 political parties in Yangon on September 5 to introduce the electronic voting machines, emphasizing that they would reduce costs associated with ballot sheets and prevent vote rigging.
Various political party leaders, including those from the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, the Shan Nationalities Democratic Party, and Arakan Front Party, attended the demonstration of the electronic voting machines.
Myanmar's history has seen multiple interruptions to democratic processes, with the military staging its first coup in 1962. The regime ignored the results of the 1990 election. It was only in 2015 that a general election was held with any semblance of credibility.
Foreign governments and Myanmar's civilian National Unity Government have expressed skepticism, asserting that any election conducted by the regime would lack legitimacy and not be free or fair. Min Aung Hlaing has promised to hand over power to the winning party in the election.
