Members of Myanmar's Union Election Commission demonstrating a voting machine during a press conference in Naypyitaw on Sept 11. -- PHOTO: AFP
NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar (AFP): An official from Myanmar's junta-stacked election commission said on Thursday that the results of its upcoming and widely disputed national poll were expected by the end of January next year.
Myanmar has been consumed by a civil war since the military deposed the government of democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, making unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud.
But the military is now organising an election they have touted as an off-ramp to the bloody conflict, with phased polls due to start on December 28 and lasting around a month.
The commission held a news conference on Thursday in the capital Naypyidaw, which lasted more than three hours and neither Suu Kyi nor her National League for Democracy -- which won the last polls by a landslide -- were mentioned once.
It said six parties would run for seats nationwide, with another 51 taking part in individual states or regions.
"Altogether we have 57 parties to contest in elections," UEC member Khin Maung Oo said.
The vote would be held in three phases, with two weeks between each phase, the UEC said.
Large areas of Myanmar are beyond the control of the military, administered by a myriad of pro-democracy guerrillas and powerful ethnic armed organisations that have pledged to block polls in their enclaves.
"We have about 63 places which have security risks," Khin Maung Oo said, "however we will continue working until we can hold (the vote)".
The junta has touted elections as a way to end the conflict, although the vastly popular 80-year-old Suu Kyi remains jailed and international monitors and analysts have described the vote as a ploy to disguise continuing military rule.
Conflict monitors predict the period will see an uptick in violence and unrest as the military seeks to expand the scope of the vote and opposition groups lash back.
The military government has introduced new laws dictating prison sentences of up to 10 years for critics or protesters of the election.
A scattered array of pro-democracy guerrilla groups and ethnic armed organisations initially struggled to make headway against the military before a series of territorial wins after a combined offensive starting in late 2023.
But their momentum has stalled and ahead of the vote the junta has made a limited series of successful counteroffensives clawing back a smattering of towns, mostly in the north.
Nonetheless the election is likely to be limited in scope.
A census held as preparation for the poll estimated it failed to collect data from 19 million of the country's 51 million people, according to provisional findings, citing "significant security constraints" as one reason for the shortfall.
In Myanmar's last election in 2020 over 70 of the 94 political parties registered ran at the national level. - AFP
