Nyapyidaw: Myanmar’s military government has announced plans to conduct a nationwide population and household census in October, a crucial step toward the promised election next year. State media reported the move on Monday, which comes amid ongoing conflict across significant parts of the country.
According to junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, the census, scheduled to take place from October 1-15, will be essential for organizing a general election next year. Speaking at a meeting on Sunday, he stated, “The census can be used in compilation of correct and accurate voter lists, which is a basic need for successfully holding a free and fair multi-party democratic general election.” This statement was echoed in a televised speech the same day.
The proposed election, however, has been widely criticized as illegitimate, with its outcome unlikely to be recognized by Western nations. Many political parties have been disbanded for failing to register, including the dominant National League for Democracy (NLD), whose government was toppled by the junta.
Myanmar, home to 55 million people, has been in turmoil since February 2021, when the military ousted the popular government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, citing allegations of fraud in an election her party won by a landslide just two months earlier. Many NLD politicians, including Suu Kyi, were arrested, while others fled, denouncing the junta’s fraud claims as baseless and a pretext for the coup.
Loss of Control
The coup sparked widespread protests that escalated into a brutal crackdown, eventually transforming peaceful demonstrations into an armed resistance movement. This resistance has since allied with established ethnic minority armies, posing the most significant challenge to the military in decades.
In July, the military government stated that 27 of the parties registered for the upcoming election had denounced the rebellion. However, the junta’s control over Myanmar is far from absolute. A report by the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar in May revealed that the military has lost authority over townships covering 86% of the country’s territory, home to 67% of the population. Earlier this year, thousands of young people fled the country following the junta’s conscription call to replenish its weakened forces.
Last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi pledged technological assistance for the census process during a meeting with Min Aung Hlaing. The census is being touted as a step toward an “all-inclusive election.”
However, the parallel National Unity Government (NUG), composed of former lawmakers and other opponents of the junta, urged the international community and neighboring countries to reject both the election and the census process. “The junta has the intention to carry out a sham election, and using the excuse of a census, they are collecting information from people which they will use to terrorize them,” said NUG spokesperson Kyaw Zaw.
