• Myanmar's military junta has set the first phase of general elections for December 28, 2025, amid ongoing civil unrest.
• The elections are widely viewed as an attempt to legitimize military rule after the coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi.
• Many opposition groups have vowed to boycott the elections, further questioning their credibility.

Myanmar's Union Election Commission declared that the first phase of the country’s general elections will occur on December 28, 2025, amid condemnation from international observers and significant domestic opposition. This announcement marks the first general election since the military coup in February 2021 that ousted the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, plunging the nation into civil conflict. The junta has described this election process as a step towards restoring democracy, yet critics label it as a "sham", designed to maintain military control, according to aa, scmp, and trtglobal.

The military regime, led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who has proclaimed himself as acting president, faces a divided political landscape, with many pro-democracy factions and ethnic armed groups vowing to obstruct voting in their territories. This conflict has resulted in large parts of Myanmar being beyond military control, significantly complicating the logistics of the election process. Analysts indicate that the elections could further fragment the opposition as they debate participation, and many of these factions are expected to boycott the vote entirely, as detailed by bbc, channelnewsasia, and aljazeera.

Furthermore, the junta’s assertion of conducting free and fair elections stands in stark contrast to reports of ongoing violence and humanitarian crises stemming from the civil war. The situation has claimed thousands of lives and displaced millions of residents, with more than half of the nation's populace in poverty. International watchdogs have described the planned elections as merely a legitimizing facade for continued military rule. Tom Andrews, a UN expert, characterized the vote as a "fraud" designed to mask ongoing oppressive governance, a sentiment echoed by numerous human rights organizations, according to npr and thejakartapost.