ISTANBUL
Myanmar on Sunday held phase two of a three-stage voting process in 100 townships nationwide towards forming a new government in April.
Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Htun, leader of the junta information team, said a new parliament will convene in March after the elections conclude and a new government will take office in April.
Polling began in the morning and concluded at 4 pm local time (0930GMT), according to Myanmar Radio and Television.
Earlier Sunday, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing inspected voting at stations in Yangon’s Hlaing and Insein townships as the country held phase two in 12 of the country’s 14 regions and states.
No date has yet been given for announcing the election results.
The elections are being held in three stages. Phase one – the first elections since a 2021 military coup – was held on Dec. 28 in 102 townships, while the final phase is scheduled for Jan. 25 in 63 townships.
Following phase one, the Union Election Commission (UEC) said more than 100 representatives were elected to the Lower House, over 30 to the Upper House, and over 100 to the regional and state hluttaws (assemblies).
The election will determine members of the Union Parliament, both its lower and upper houses, as well as state and regional parliaments. The newly formed Union Parliament will then select a president, who will establish a new government.
Myanmar’s previous elected government, led by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD), was ousted in the 2021 coup after elections the previous year, plunging the country into more than four years of emergency rule.
Myanmar has a bicameral parliament with 664 seats – 440 in the lower house, 224 in the upper house.
Forty political parties were dissolved in 2023, including the NLD, with at least six parties — with nearly 5,000 candidates — taking part in the current vote.
At the regional level, 57 parties are in the race. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party has put up over 1,000 candidates.