Despite millions displaced by war and destruction from a devastating earthquake, the junta announced on 18 August that elections will begin on Sunday, 28 December. The election date was announced today by the junta’s Union Election Commission.

“The dates for subsequent elections will be announced in phases,” the commission said.

The junta announced that elections will be held across all 330 townships in Myanmar, including areas controlled by ethnic armed groups, revolutionary forces, and townships where elections have never previously taken place.

Ethnic armed groups including the Arakan Army (AA), Karenni Army (KA), Chin National Front (CNF), and Karen National Union (KNU) have repeatedly declared they will not allow elections to take place in territories under their control.

U Nay Phone Latt, spokesperson for the Prime Minister's Office of the National Unity Government (NUG), called the military-led election a “fake” and said it would not be recognized. He urged the public to boycott the vote.

Junta leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing stated during an August 12 meeting that the election will be held “by any means necessary,” with the aim of ensuring at least 50 percent of representatives take their seats in parliament.

On 15 August, the commission announced constituencies: 330 Pyithu Hluttaw seats to be decided by first-past-the-post (FPTP), alongside 84 FPTP and 26 proportional representation (PR) seats in the National Hluttaw, and 322 FPTP, 42 PR, and 29 ethnic constituencies across regional and state parliaments.

According to UNHCR and the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), over 3.5 million people have been internally displaced in Myanmar since the military coup on February 1, 2021, through July of this year.

Including refugees displaced before the coup, the total number of displaced people in Myanmar now exceeds 4.3 million.

Additionally, the devastating earthquake on March 28 this year killed thousands and destroyed over 52,000 homes, UNICEF reports.