Myanmar Junta promises general election in 2025

Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing has promised a general election in Myanmar next year.

He previously said an election would be held after a population census in October this year. 

He promised a poll while visiting junta staff and community representatives in Meiktila Township, Mandalay Region, on Saturday.

The junta’s five-point roadmap includes holding an election to hand power to the winning party but Min Aung Hlaing has repeatedly delayed any election because of instability across Myanmar.

At a cabinet meeting in July last year, Min Aung Hlaing suggested holding voting in territory controlled by the regime as large areas of Myanmar have been liberated.

The regime has lost half of Rakhine State and tensions are running high again in northern Shan State, despite a China-brokered ceasefire.

The repeated defeats raise questions about how a census could be conducted by October, voter lists compiled or an election held.