Myanmar holds its last election round with the army already certain to keep control over government

Voting began on Sunday (January 25, 2026) in Myanmar in the final round of a three-stage general election, capping a nearly monthlong process that has already ensured the country’s military rulers and their allies will command a parliamentary majority to form a new government.

Critics say the polls are neither free nor fair and are designed to legitimise the power of the military after it ousted the elected civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021.

Also Read: Sham election | On Myanmar’s three-phase elections

The army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, or USDP, has already won most of the seats contested in the first two rounds of voting. Twenty-five percent of the seats in the upper and lower houses of the national Parliament are reserved for the military, guaranteeing it and its allies control of the legislature.

Myanmar pro-military party claims most seats in junta-run election