Myanmar Elections
According to military sources in Naypyidaw, the military council has established strict regulations requiring parliamentary candidates and political parties participating in their planned election to conduct campaign activities only under military supervision, citing security concerns. The candidates and parties must obtain prior permission and provide advance notice regarding the locations and timing of their campaign activities.
The military council plans to deploy armed forces, police, militia groups (Pyu Saw Htee), and civilian security forces for election security. Both militia groups and civilian security forces will be armed. Additionally, the Ministry of Home Affairs has established election security oversight committees at various administrative levels – central, state/region, district, and township levels – to manage election security operations.
Under these security measures, parliamentary candidates and political parties will no longer have freedom to campaign independently. They must obtain permission from relevant local military authorities, police, and election security oversight committees before conducting any campaign activities or holding public speeches. The military source emphasized that campaign activities will be particularly restricted in areas deemed unstable, where no campaigning will be allowed without explicit permission from local authorities. While USDP party chairman Khin Yi expressed confidence about security improvements due to military clearance operations expanding voting constituencies, military leader Min Aung Hlaing has stated that the security of election candidates will be guaranteed, as announced during the military council meeting on August 12.
