CNI News
31 December 2025
The Chairman of the Shan and Nationalities Democratic Party (SNDP), U Sai Aik Pao, told CNI News that he is dissatisfied with the recently concluded Phase 1 of the election and feels that it was conducted unfairly.
In Myanmar, Phase 1 of the election commenced on December 28, 2025. Phase 2 is scheduled for January 11, 2026, and Phase 3 for January 25, 2026.
U Sai Aik Pao expressed his lack of satisfaction regarding the first phase of the multi-party democratic general election.
"I am not satisfied. There was a massive influx of advance votes, while the number of people actually coming out to vote was low. Furthermore, there was no transparency regarding these advance votes; parties were not invited to witness the process. Right now, the situation with advance votes is very messy. I simply feel that there is no fairness," said U Sai Aik Pao.
Despite inquiries regarding the number of eligible advance voters and the total number of advance ballots cast, the Union Election Commission (UEC) has neither released official data nor provided answers.
People checking lists to cast their votes.
Daw Nant Khin Aye Oo, Chairwoman of the Karen People's Party (KPP), told CNI News that public voter turnout was very weak and the process was unsatisfactory, leading many voters to lose their right to vote.
"From what I know, the turnout was very low. To be frank, there were hardly any people. This is due to a lack of technical expertise and the fact that different areas were following different formats—it was inconsistent. There were also many difficulties on the ground. For instance, ethnic voters have been unable to vote for their respective Ethnic Affairs Ministers; this happened in 2010, 2015, 2020, and now again in 2025.
Regarding the public, many found their names on the first preliminary voter list, but by the second list, they were gone. They reported this to the UEC with their IDs and were told they would be on the third list, but they were still missing. I believe this is a result of incompetence. Many errors are surfacing in the current operations. So many people couldn't vote. These are major human's weaknesses," she said.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing meeting with those who were about to vote
Revolutionary forces have issued statements urging the public not to vote or participate in the military-organized election, warning that effective action will be taken against those who collaborate. Consequently, many citizens faced difficulties casting their ballots due to security fears.
Conversely, some voters whose names were on the list were torn between whether to vote or not. They feared that if they stayed away for security reasons, authorities might cause trouble for them later, given that Ward Administrators hold all their household registration data.
As of now, it is reported that in the Phase 1 elections held on December 28, 2025:
The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has claimed victory in 80% of constituencies nationwide.
The USDP has reportedly won all seats in the Yangon Region and the Nay Pyi Taw Council Area.
