Phase 3 of Junta’s Election Brings Forward Ministers, Military Heirs and Party Chiefs

As Myanmar’s junta proceeds with the third and final phase of its Jan. 25 election, the candidate list and conditions underscore that the process is tightly stage-managed to entrench military rule rather than offer real political choice. The vote spans 63 townships across conflict-hit regions, even as airstrikes, ground assaults and heavy militarization continue. The military-backed USDP dominates the field with junta ministers, senior officials, generals, and their relatives, while several constituencies are uncontested, guaranteeing automatic victories—mostly for the USDP. Party chairmen, former officials, and a handful of independents, including a former minister and a social media vlogger, add a veneer of pluralism but have little chance against the regime’s machinery. With the NLD banned, opposition leaders jailed or exiled, and campaigning unsafe or impossible in many areas, resistance forces have instead attacked polling infrastructure. Having already swept earlier phases, the USDP is set to secure predictable outcomes and form a new government, reinforcing widespread criticism that the election is not free or fair but a choreographed exercise to legitimize continued military dominance.