CNI News

21 May 2025

The ongoing political conflict in Myanmar should be resolved through elections rather than through weapons, U Sai Htay Aung, chairman of the Tai Leng (Shanni) Nationalities Development Party, told CNI News.

On February 1, 2021, the Myanmar Tatmadaw ousted the NLD government, accusing it of attempting to form a government without resolving the 2020 general election voter list dispute, and declared a state of emergency and is ruling the country.

Then, NLD leaders, parliamentarians, activists, armed groups, and some political parties  started waging battles to overthrow the Myanmar military and the SAC, and battles are taking place across Myanmar. 

Resolving the conflict through weapons has caused a lot of damage to the lives and property of the people, and therefore the people are focusing on resolving it with the election, U Sai Htay Aung, chairman of the Tai Leng (Shanni) Nationalities Development Party, told CNI News.

Political parties

"After the election, the SAC will hand over power to the winning party because it is talking about holding on to the 2008 constitution. The reason it did not hand over power to the winning party in 1990 is that there was no constitution. The 1974 constitution was also destroyed in the  8888 uprising. So, should we draft a new constitution or should we use the old one? If we use the old one, should we use the 1947 constitution or the 1974 constitution? There may be a dispute. When we make a decision to draft a new constitution, we can be deceived again by them because they can say that holding elections is to draft a constitution. The SAC said that it has kept the power in accordance with the 2008 constitution. But this is nothing short of a coup. It repeatedly has said that it will carry out in accordance with the 2008 constitution. And China that is important to Myanmar politics has said since the beginning that it will help Myanmar. So,  according to the 2008 constitution, the SAC will hand over power to the winning party." he said.

The SAC Chairman Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has said that in Myanmar, elections will be held in December 2025 and January 2026, and that power will be transferred to the winning party. 

The Union Election Commission (UEC) told CNI News that there are currently 54 political parties registered to run the elections to be held by the SAC, of which 9 will contest nationwide and 45 will contest in a region or state.

On the other hand, the NUG, PDF, and some ethnic armed organizations have announced that they will completely destroy the elections to be held by the SAC.