Covering Myanmar Elections: A Record of Broken Promises

The author reflects on decades of covering Myanmar’s elections to argue that the military has consistently used electoral processes as tools of control rather than pathways to democracy. From the annulled 1990 NLD landslide to the constitutionally constrained elections of 2010, 2015, and 2020, and finally to the 2025–26 sham election, the military has repeatedly manipulated laws, institutions, and outcomes to preserve its dominance. Foreign observers and analysts, the author notes, have often misread these moments as democratic breakthroughs, while ignoring the entrenched power guaranteed to the armed forces under the 2008 Constitution. Drawing on long experience and grassroots reporting, the author contends that genuine change has never been possible through military-managed elections, and that understanding Myanmar’s political reality requires listening to ordinary people and local journalists rather than relying on optimistic or detached external expertise.