BANGKOK (AP) — Myanmar’s military government has announced that the newly elected parliament will hold its inaugural session next month, marking the first legislative assembly since the 2021 military coup that overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government. The state media confirmed on Tuesday that the session would commence on March 16, following elections that international observers have widely criticized as neither free nor fair.
The parliamentary convening occurs against the backdrop of intensified civil conflict that has engulfed Myanmar since the military takeover nearly three years ago. The phased elections conducted during December and January across 263 of the country’s 330 townships resulted in a decisive victory for the army-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).
According to official reports, the 440-member lower house will initiate proceedings on March 16, with the 224-seat upper house following two days later in the capital city of Naypyitaw. Regional chambers are scheduled to convene on March 20.
The military government has portrayed the electoral process as a restoration of democratic governance, but critics maintain that the polls were strategically engineered to legitimize military authority following the ouster of Suu Kyi in February 2021. The former ruling National League for Democracy and several other political factions boycotted the elections, citing fundamentally unfair conditions.
Electoral commission data reveals that the USDP secured 339 of the 586 available parliamentary seats. Combined with the military’s constitutionally guaranteed allocation of 166 seats, the establishment controls approximately 86% of the legislative body. Twenty-one additional parties obtained between one and twenty seats each.
The parliament’s initial agenda includes selecting speakers for both chambers, followed by the election of a president and two vice presidents. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the current military government leader, is anticipated to assume the presidency, though constitutional provisions prohibit the president from simultaneously serving as army commander-in-chief—Myanmar’s most powerful military position.
Meanwhile, Aung San Suu Kyi, the 80-year-old former leader, remains imprisoned under a 27-year sentence on charges widely regarded as politically motivated. Her party, which achieved overwhelming victories in the 2015 and 2020 elections, was forcibly dissolved in 2023 after refusing to comply with new military registration requirements.