Two more towns in Kachin State excluded from polls in final phase of military’s 2025-26 elections

The regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) stated on Tuesday that it is unable to hold the third and final round of voting in Kachin State’s Mansi and Momauk townships on Jan. 25, due to “a lack of conditions to hold free-and-fair elections.”

It added that the military-run polls will take place in 263 out of Myanmar’s 330 townships rather than the 265 it had originally announced in October. In the Pyithu Hluttaw, or lower house of parliament, the total number of seats is 263, and in the Amyotha Hluttaw, or upper house of parliament, it is 99, according to the UEC.

Kwan Hsan, the sole candidate on the ballot in Mansi Township for the military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), was disqualified on Jan. 20 by the UEC after a statement on Jan. 2 said he’d won the seat for the USDP in the Pyitthu Hulttaw.

Momauk and Mansi are located 50-112 miles (80-180 km) south of the Kachin State capital Myitkyina and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) headquarters in Laiza.

The Kachin Independence Army, along with the All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF) and the People’s Defence Force (PDF), seized Mansi on Jan. 8, 2025. KIA-led forces previously seized control of Momauk after capturing the regime’s Light Infantry Battalion (LIB) 437 on Aug. 19, 2024.

Both Mansi and Momauk are located in Bhamo District, where the KIA has been fighting against regime forces in Bhamo Township since Dec. 4, 2024. Bhamo is located 118 miles (190 km) south of Myitkyina and 56 miles (90 km) southwest of Laiza.

Naw Bu, the KIA spokesperson, told DVB that regime forces launched indiscriminate Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), or drone, and artillery strikes in a three-mile (4 km) radius of Bhamo town on Jan. 19. The KIA has been defending Lamyan village in Waingmaw Township from a regime counteroffensive since Jan 19, he added.

The KIA seized control of Tsawlaw, Chipwi, and parts of Waingmaw townships — formerly known as Kachin Special Region One — in northeastern Kachin State on Nov. 20, 2024. Waingmaw is located 30 miles (48 km) east of Myitkyina and 74 miles (119 km) northeast of Laiza.

Naw Bu said that regime forces have launched frequent attacks against KIA positions in Waingmaw as they attempt to regain control of the 77 mile (123 km) long Myitkyina-Kanpaikti road.

The third round of voting will take place in Bhamo, Hpakant and Shwegu townships on Jan. 25, according to the UEC. It held the first two rounds of voting in nine townships, including Myitkyina, Mohnyin, Putao, Naungmon, Khaunglanhpu, Tanai, Machanbaw, Mogaung, and Waingmaw, on Dec. 28 and Jan. 11.

The UEC cannot hold elections in Mansi, Momauk, Sumprabum, Injangyang, Chipwi and Tsawlaw, which were seized by the KIA in its statewide offensive against regime forces launched on March 7, 2024. Kachin State has a total of 18 townships.