Myanmar’s military plans election despite coup

Myanmar's ruling military plans to hold an election despite the fact that major parties are unable or unwilling to take part in a coup two years ago.

The army has ruled Myanmar for five of the past six decades and transitioned to a quasi-civilian political system in which the military shared power with an elected government in the 10 years prior to the coup.

That system was created by the military to allow it to step back from direct rule while keeping an important political role with which it could protect its own interests and not be at the mercy of elected politicians.

It was a success, at least compared to the decades of authoritarian rule, sanctions and economic decay that preceded it. Myanmar's brief encounter with democracy and civilian rule saw unprecedented reform, Western investment and economic liberalisation. The February 2021 coup has resulted in a lot of that.

Just hours before a new parliament was due to convene, the generals cited unaddressed irregularities in an election three months earlier that was won in a landslide by Aung San Suu Kyi's ruling National League for Democracy NLD party. Election watchdogs, however, found no significant issues.

The coup was a self-preservation move by the military top brass, according to experts. Their bitter rival, the NLD, won nearly 80 per cent of the available seats in the election compared with less than 7 per cent for the military's proxy party – a win big enough to mount a serious effort to change the constitution to weaken military power and make it answerable to elected governments.