The global community—leaving aside a few nations—may denounce the ongoing three-phase elections in Myanmar (also known as Burma or Brahmadesh) as a façade for democratic transition, but the country’s military rulers continue to strengthen business ties with neighbouring states. The poverty-stricken nation is expanding cooperation with China, India, Thailand, Russia, and Middle Eastern countries to boost natural gas production, according to the military-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar.
Quoting Energy Minister Ko Ko Lwin, the daily reported on its front page on 1 January 2026 that Myanmar, a country of around 55 million people, has intensified collaboration with these foreign partners in various offshore oil and natural gas projects. At present, Myanmar and Thailand are jointly expanding investments in oil and gas projects in the Ayeyawady and Mottama sedimentary basins, including offshore areas. The report also noted that India has been conducting oil and gas exploration and drilling activities in areas near the Andaman Islands.
Meanwhile, the armed forces—popularly known as the Tatmadaw—completed the first phase of the general election on 28 December, even as a civil war–like situation continues to haunt the Land of Golden Pagodas. The electoral exercise covered 102 of Myanmar’s 330 townships (loosely equivalent to constituencies), though many areas did not participate as they remain outside the control of the military regime led by Min Aung Hlaing. Anti-military ethnic groups, People’s Defence Forces, and other armed resistance outfits—currently controlling nearly one-third of the conflict-ridden country—strongly opposed the polls. The junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) had planned elections in 274 townships, while the rest were declared disturbed and unstable, largely in Rakhine, Sagaing, and Shan regions.
Voting took place under heavy security in major cities such as Naypyitaw, Yangon, and Mandalay, as well as in townships across the Bago and Ayeyarwady regions. The pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has already been declared the winner in 89 constituencies of the 330-member Pyithu Hluttaw (lower house of parliament). Polling was marked by the presence of mostly elderly voters, many of whom reportedly participated out of fear of reprisals from the military authorities. Younger voters, particularly those not from military families, largely boycotted the election. A junta spokesperson claimed that 52 percent of more than 11.5 million registered voters cast their ballots in the first phase. By contrast, the national elections in 2015 and 2020—despite the Covid-19 pandemic—recorded voter turnouts of around 70 percent, with the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, securing landslide victories over parties backed by former military generals.
Earlier, the UEC cancelled the registration of several mainstream political parties. More than 40 political entities, including the NLD, did not re-register with the electoral authorities. Only six parties—the USDP, National Unity Party, People’s Pioneer Party, Myanmar Farmers Development Party, Shan and Nationalities Democratic Party, and People’s Party—were permitted to field candidates nationwide, while 51 smaller parties were allowed to contest only in regional assemblies.
Since the military coup of 1 February 2021, which overthrew Myanmar’s democratically elected government, more than 7,500 people have been killed in anti-junta violence. Government forces have carried out indiscriminate crackdowns, including airstrikes on crowded civilian areas, hospitals, and schools. Thousands have been arrested, and over 3.6 million people displaced over the past five years. An estimated 20 million people now require urgent humanitarian assistance, with at least 540,000 children at risk of acute malnutrition across the underdeveloped country. Many pro-democracy leaders have fled to neighbouring Thailand, China, India, and Bangladesh to escape military persecution.
The United Nations, several Western governments, along with Japan, Australia, and international human rights groups, have criticised the election as neither free nor fair. Anti-junta activists have dismissed the exercise as a sham aimed solely at legitimising continued military rule and circumventing international sanctions.
Nevertheless, military chief Min Aung Hlaing, who voted in Naypyitaw, asserted that the elections would advance Myanmar’s democratic process. The polls were also rejected by the National Unity Government, the country’s parallel government-in-exile, which accused the junta of continuing airstrikes against civilian populations.
