ExplainerMyanmar’s first election since the 2021 coup: everything you need to know

Five years after Myanmar’s junta ousted the country’s last elected government, triggering a civil war, voting is set to begin this week in national elections.

The junta claims the vote is a return to democracy, but in reality the one-sided and heavily restricted poll has been widely condemned as a sham designed to keep the generals in power through proxies.

The first of three rounds of voting is due to begin at 6am on 28 December. More than 100 townships, including the commercial capital of Yangon, will vote in this first phase of the elections, followed by another 100 in the second phase on 11 January. The third round of voting will take place on 25 January.