Kyimyindaing administrators face backlash over USDP defeat and low voter turnout

Mizzima Local administrators in Kyimyindaing Township, Yangon Region, have been ordered to submit formal letters of explanation to the Myanmar junta following a surprise electoral defeat for the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and historically low voter participation. According to sources close to the township administration, the directive was issued verbally on 15 January 2026, as the junta expressed frustration over the USDP’s failure to secure seats in a region where it won nearly all other constituencies. Out of approximately 60,000 eligible voters in Kyimyindaing, only 24,633 – less than 42 percent – cast their ballots during the second phase of the election on 11 January. “I believe the Township GAD Assistant Director also has to report to the district level. It’s certain that ward and village tract administrators had to submit them. The main excuse in the explanation is the low voter turnout. In reality, it’s just a display of bitterness because the USDP lost,” said an anonymous ward clerk. Currently, U Kyi Thar Oo from the People’s Party, a resident of Balote Nyunt village, won the Amyotha Hluttaw (Upper House) seat for Kyimyindaing Township, while Daw Khin Thet Mar from the National Unity Party (NUP) won the Region Hluttaw seat. For the Pyithu Hluttaw (Lower House) seat, independent candidate Zawtika U Khin Hlaing won with a majority of 14,100 votes. Daw Ei Ei Hlaing from the USDP came in second with 4,268 votes, while U Aung Min from the Shan and Nationalities Democratic Party took third place with 2,158 votes, according to the election results announced on 17 January.