CNI Interview
10 June 2025
The SAC Chairman Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has said that elections in Myanmar will be held one place after another in December 2025 and January 2026.
CNI News Agency asked the Union Election Commission (UEC) which system will be used in the elections, which regions will be prioritized, and how the elections will be held one place after another.
CNI: Will the December 2025 election be held under the PR system, the FPTP system, or a mix of PR and FPTP?
UEC: The upcoming election will use both the previous First Past the Post (FPTP) and Proportional Representation (PR) systems.
CNI: How many of the 330 townships in Myanmar are scheduled to hold elections?
UEC: At the time of the announcement of the election date, elections will be held in the townships where they can be held, and in the areas where they cannot be held, depending on the prevailing security situation.
According to the Union Election Commission's current statistics, elections are scheduled to be held in 267 townships.
CNI: I want to know whether the voting system for the Pyithu Hluttaw is PR or FPTP.
I want to know whether the voting system for the Amyotha Hluttaw is PR or FPTP.
I want to know whether the voting system for the Regional and State Hluttaw is PR or FPTP.
UEC: The upcoming election will use both the previous First Past the Post (FPTP) and Proportional Representation (PR) systems. Details will be announced after the relevant Hluttaw election laws and regulations are enacted.
CNI: There are concerns that the election results may be rigged, as the voting system will be Myanmar Electronic Voting Machine (MEVM). How can you ensure that this does not happen?
UEC: Trial voting with MEVM machines has been conducted in central institutions, ministries, universities, social organizations and 9 regions/states in Nay Pyi Taw, and political parties have also tested. The voter can verify the results themselves. Test voting has shown that there are no errors in the results. The voting machine does not include Internet, Wifi, Bluetooth systems. It does not include Windows operating systems (OS) like computers.
It is a very simple and secure system as it is a microcontroller system.
In accordance with the Myanmar Standards Act (2014), the quality and standards of the voting machine are being carried out to be certified at the national level.
CNI: Which Regions and States are being planned to hold the elections first? I would like to know which regions will be the second priority.
UEC: Except for areas with restrictions due to geographical conditions, all regions and states are scheduled to hold elections in phases according to the priority plan.
CNI: Will the December 2025 election be held on a single day or how many days will be allowed for voting?
UEC: The upcoming election is scheduled to be held in phases, and the dates for each phase will be designated.
CNI: In regions and states where elections have not been able to be held yet, don't political parties that have been formed to contest in those regions need to contest elections any more, or in what form can they be allowed to contest elections? How will the people in those regions be able to vote? (For example, consider the parties and people who will be competing in Rakhine State, Chin State, Kayah State, Kachin State, and Sagaing Region.)
UEC: In accordance with the electoral system to be implemented, constituencies will be determined in regions and states according to the relevant Hluttaws, and efforts will be made in order that political parties will be able to compete in the elections. People will also be able to vote at polling stations designated by constituency.
CNI: For example, in Rakhine State, elections can be held in three townships, and there are MPs for only those three townships, while the MPs for the other 14 townships will be left vacant. Or will the other 14 townships be asked to vote for representatives from the three townships that can be held? In that case, I would like to know how the people who will vote will be asked to vote on their behalf.
UEC: We are working to enact and publish the relevant Hluttaw election laws and regulations that will be in line with the new electoral system.
The Hluttaw representatives will be selected according to the constituencies where the elections will be held. We will know on detail after the law is enacted.
