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Myanmar prepares to go to polls as junta hopes to legitimise rule
The Guardian
|December 27, 2025
Myanmar is preparing to go to the polls for the first time since the 2021 coup, but with its former leader behind bars, its most successful party disbanded and about a third of the country disputed or in rebel hands, few believe the junta's claims that the election will be "free and fair".
"This is not for the people, this is for themselves," said Pai, 25, who fled Myanmar after the military seized power. "They [the ruling junta] are looking for a way out of the trap they are [in]."
When polls open tomorrow, the generals will be hoping the vote legitimises the junta's grip on power and allows them to repair their image as international pariahs.
The military has said the election is not being conducted through coercion and that it has public support.
This story is from the December 27, 2025 edition of The Guardian.
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