An anonymous voter in Yangon shared this story with DVB about her experience voting in the first phase of Myanmar's 2025-26 "sham" elections.
The second and final phases of voting will take place on Jan. 11 and Jan. 25, according to the military regime's Union Election Commission (UEC), which has downplayed complaints from political parties, and independent candidates, stating that its polls were "transparent."
The military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), which lost to Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party in the two previous elections in 2020 and 2015, won 88 out of 96 seats in the Pyithu Hluttaw and 10 out of 18 seats in the Amyotha Hluttaw on Dec. 28, according to preliminary results released by the UEC.
Aung San Suu Kyi has been held in detention by the military since it staged a coup on Feb. 1, 2021. Her NLD party was disbanded by the UEC in 2023 for not re-registering even as the military has jailed its senior members and forced others underground or into exile to avoid arrest and prosecution.
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