NAYPYITAW: Myanmar’s junta chief has acknowledged that the military-backed administration cannot conduct an upcoming general election across the entire country.
Min Aung Hlaing made this admission during a speech broadcast on state television from the capital Naypyitaw.
He stated that by-elections would follow in some areas after a new government is formed.
Critics and many Western nations view the election as a sham exercise to legitimise the military’s rule.
The election is due to start in late December and will be the first since the 2021 coup.
Dozens of anti-junta parties are either banned or refusing to participate in the election.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the coup deposed an elected civilian government.
The coup triggered a nationwide armed rebellion that has wrested swathes of territory from the military.
The junta conducted a full, on-ground census to generate voter lists in only 145 of the country’s 330 townships.
A December census report put Myanmar’s total population at 51.3 million.
Current rules require political parties to meet a high threshold of at least 50,000 members.
Parties must also have 100 million kyat, approximately $47,762, in funds to be eligible.
Only six parties meet these requirements and are eligible to contest the upcoming polls nationwide.
The junta has invited ASEAN countries to send observers for the election.
The election is due to start on December 28 and will continue in phases into January.
The ASEAN bloc is expected to discuss this request during its summit later this month.
Malaysia currently chairs ASEAN, which includes nine other Southeast Asian nations.
Min Aung Hlaing’s remarks came days after he met Malaysia’s foreign minister.
This was his first public admission that the polls cannot be fully inclusive. – Reuters
