CNI News
1 January 2026
Major General Zaw Min Tun, spokesperson of the National Defense and Security Council, said that the Myanmar military (Tatmadaw) assumed national responsibility because it could not avoid doing so, in order to prevent the emergence of a dictatorship under the name of democracy.
He made this remark on December 30, in relation to Phase 1 of the election, which was held on December 28, 2025.
Major General Zaw Min Tun said:
“As the government, due to electoral fraud committed by the ruling government and the NLD party in the 2020 election, we had to take national responsibility because we could not let the multi-party democratic system that the nation was advancing towards be destroyed, nor allow a dictatorship under the name of democracy to emerge.
From the moment we began taking responsibility, we laid down objectives to fulfil the desire of the people — to restore a multi-party democratic system. We have always aimed to hold a multi-party democratic general election.”
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing casting his vote
In November 2020, a general election was held in Myanmar, in which the National League for Democracy (NLD) won by a landslide.
More than 30 political parties and the Myanmar military requested the re-examination of disputed voter lists.
However, the military claimed that the NLD party and the NLD government did not resolve the voter list disputes and instead proceeded to form a government.
As a result, on February 1, 2021, the Myanmar military overthrew the NLD government, declared a state of emergency, and took control of the country.
On that same day, February 1, 2021, the NLD government was preparing to convene the parliament, and foreign diplomats had been invited as witnesses.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing meeting foreign diplomats observing the election
Currently, the Myanmar military is holding the election in three phases.
Phase 1 was held on December 28, 2025.Phase 2 will be held on January 11, 2026, and Phase 3 will follow on January 25, 2026.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the military chief, has said that after the election, the military will hand over state power to the political party that wins, and that the military will only continue to serve national defense duties.
