YANGON – Myanmar’s military government took an early step towards holding parliamentary elections, but it did so by imposing strict rules on political parties that may make fair balloting difficult.

The country has been under sanctions, including by the United States and European Union, since the coup in 2021 that toppled the civilian government led by Ms Aung San Suu Kyi.

Seeking to ease international pressure, coup leader Min Aung Hlaing said parliamentary elections would likely be held by August 2023. As an early step in the election process, the military also issued a 20-page law prescribing complicated and rigorous rules for political parties hoping to compete.

These laws could block Ms Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, which won the 2020 election by a landslide despite the junta’s claim of voter fraud – dismissed by international observers. A party could be dissolved if it is declared unlawful or is alleged to have communications with terrorist organisations, according to the new law.

The junta has handed 33 years’ imprisonment to Ms Suu Kyi and jailed a number of other key leaders in her party, including former president Win Myint, keeping them out of national politics. 

The shadow National Unity Government aligned with Ms Suu Kyi urged people to oppose “sham” elections. 

In another sign that elections are drawing close, the National Defence and Security Council will meet next week, when General Min Aung Hlaing is likely to hand over power to the council as no further extensions on the state of emergency can be permitted under the Constitution.

Elections have to be carried out within six months after the end of emergency rule.

In November, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged the international community to deny the military any credibility it sought by holding a national election that did not “meaningfully engage with pro-democracy leaders”.

“The regime’s planned sham elections, which could not possibly be free and fair in the current context, will only fuel more violence, prolong the crisis, and defer the country’s transition to democracy and stability,” he said.

The new laws sharply increase the requirement for membership of political parties vying for seats nationwide to 100 times higher than what was prescribed before the coup.

Political parties will now be required to have at least 100,000 members within three months from the date of getting approval and have to deposit 100 million kyat (S$62,400) at state-owned Myanma Economic Bank. 

The law also says the existing political parties shall be deemed dissolved if they fail to re-register at the Union Election Commission within two months.

Political parties also need to open offices in at least half of 330 townships across the nation within six months after registering, according to the newly enacted law. The regime has the right to dissolve any party if it fails to compete in at least half of all constituencies and fails to compete in by-elections.

Nearly two years after Myanmar’s military coup, the United Nations rights chief warned on Friday that the country had plunged into catastrophe, calling for the military to be brought under civilian oversight.

Since the coup on Feb 1, 2021, Myanmar has, “by nearly every feasible measurement, and in every area of human rights... profoundly regressed”, Mr Volker Turk said in a statement.

“Despite clear legal obligations for the military to protect civilians in the conduct of hostilities, there has been consistent disregard for the related rules of international law,” he said. “Far from being spared, civilians have been the actual targets of attacks – victims of targeted and indiscriminate artillery barrages and air strikes, extrajudicial executions, the use of torture, and the burning of whole villages.” BLOOMBERG