The army has resolved to hold elections in August this year. An announcement in Friday’s state media said that parties intending to compete at the national level must have at least 100,000 members, up from 1,000 previously, and have the right to participate in elections or hold an election within the next 60 days. Committed to be unregistered as a party.
The rules favor the Union Solidarity and Development Party, a military proxy with former generals, which was defeated by Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party in the 2015 and 2020 elections.
The NLD was wiped out by the coup, with thousands of its members arrested or imprisoned, including Suu Kyi, and many others in hiding.
Richard Horsey, a senior adviser to the International Crisis Group who has been in Myanmar for 15 years, said the rules are aimed at restoring a political system that the military can control.