Myanmar to hold 1st general election in 5 years as military rule under fire

Bangkok: Myanmar will hold the first phase of a general election on Sunday, its first vote in five years and an exercise that critics say will neither restore the country’s fragile democracy undone by a 2021 army takeover, nor end a devastating civil war triggered by the nation’s harsh military rule.

The military has framed the polls as a return to multi-party democracy, likely seeking to add a facade of legitimacy to its rule, which began after the army four years ago ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. The takeover triggered widespread popular opposition that has grown into a civil war. The fighting has complicated holding the polls in many contested areas.

Voting will be held in different parts of the country in three phases, with the second on Jan. 11 and the third on Jan. 25.

Human rights and opposition groups say the vote will be neither free nor fair and that power is likely to remain in the hands of military leader Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. Myanmar’s 80-year-old former leader and her party are not taking part. Suu Kyi is currently serving a 27-year prison term on charges seen as bogus.