MYANMAR – 8 November: general elections – Security reinforcements and disruptions to be expected

Myanmar’s general elections will be held across the country 8 November. 

Travel restrictions related to the Covid-19 pandemic have been partially lifted this day to allow people to go to the polls.

The ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) is expected to win the ballot. Some opposition parties, including the Union, Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), denounced the conditions in which the election campaign was conducted. The electoral campaign was mostly online due to the Covid-19 pandemic and its related restrictions.  

As a reminder, the vote was cancelled by the Burmese authorities in several regions where the security environment was deemed too volatile: Chin, Kachin, Karen, Mon, Rakhine and Shan states as well as some townships in the Bago region. These cancellations are likely to aggravate ethnic tensions and armed violence in the short and medium term in these regions.

In this regard, the Arakan Army (AA) had claimed responsibility for the abduction 14 October of 3 NLD candidates in Toungup township (Rakhine State). Clashes between rival supporters had also been recorded 10 and 23 October in Henzada (Ayeyarwady region) and Kanbalu township (Sagaing division). 

However, the election results should be widely accepted, notably because of the security lockdown carried out in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is nevertheless advisable to steer clear from any gathering on polling day and during the period leading up to the announcement of the results, because of possible tensions.