Seoul Gazette - Myanmar junta says no voting in dozens of constituencies

A civil war has consumed Myanmar since the military snatched power in a 2021 coup, jailing democratic figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi and deposing her civilian government.

The military has touted elections -- due to start in phases on December 28 -- as a path to reconciliation.

However monitors are slating the poll as a ploy to legitimise continuing military rule, while it is set to be boycotted by many ousted lawmakers and blocked by armed opposition groups in enclaves they control.

A notice by Myanmar's Union Election Commission shared in state media said elections would not be held in 56 lower house constituencies and nine upper house constituencies.

The notice did not provide a specific reason for the cancellation but said "these constituencies have been deemed not conducive to holding free and fair elections".

However, many of the territories are known battlegrounds or areas where the military has lost control to an array of pro-democracy guerrillas and powerful ethnic minority armed organisations defying its writ.

There are a total of 440 constituencies for Myanmar's upper and lower houses, with the 65 cancelled accounting for nearly 15 percent of the total.

They include the rebel-held ruby mining hub of Mogok, a majority of constituencies in western Rakhine state where the military has lost ground, and numerous areas the junta has been hammering with air strikes.

Myanmar's junta lost swaths of territory when scattered opposition groups committed to a combined offensive starting in late 2023, but it has recently clawed back some ground with several victories.

Nonetheless, there have been other signs the poll will be limited in scope.

A census held last year in preparation for the election estimated it failed to collect data from 19 million of the country's 51 million people, according to provisional findings.

"Significant security constraints" were cited as one reason for the shortfall.

Y.Wi--SG