Myanmar’s military-backed parliament convenes for first time since 2021 coup

Myanmar on Monday convened its first parliamentary session in more than five years following elections widely criticised for excluding major opposition parties, ensuring that the ruling military and its allies retain overwhelming control over the legislature.

The country’s last parliament never convened after the military seized power from the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in February 2021. Since the coup, Myanmar has been governed without a functioning legislature.

The military authorities described elections held in late December and January as a step toward restoring democracy. However, the results ensured that the armed forces and allied parties dominate the new parliament, holding close to 90 per cent of the seats in the bicameral legislature.

Myanmar’s former ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) and other major opposition groups were either barred from participating or declined to contest the polls, saying the process was unfair and designed to entrench military rule.

Heavy security as parliament opens

Delegates dressed in traditional attire arrived in Naypyitaw for the opening sitting of the 373-member lower house at the heavily guarded parliamentary complex.

Security forces sealed roads leading to the building and searched vehicles for explosives before allowing entry to the compound. The complex had recently undergone renovation after suffering significant damage during last year’s earthquake.

The newly convened parliament is expected to begin its work by electing speakers for both chambers, followed by the election of a president and two vice presidents.

During Monday’s session, Khin Yi, chairman of the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), was elected speaker of the lower house. Khin Yi is a former general and police chief and is widely seen as a close ally of Myanmar’s military ruler, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing.

Maung Maung Ohn, another former general and a former information minister, was elected deputy speaker.

The 213-seat upper house is scheduled to hold its first session on Wednesday. Regional parliaments across Myanmar’s states and regions are expected to convene two days later.Military dominance built into system

Under Myanmar’s military-drafted constitution, 25 per cent of seats in both chambers are reserved for the armed forces, amounting to 166 seats. The remaining seats were contested in the elections, in which the USDP and allied parties secured the vast majority.

According to official results, the USDP won 339 of the remaining seats, while 21 other parties secured between one and 20 seats each.

The elections themselves were conducted in phases during December and January across 263 of Myanmar’s 330 townships.

Opposition rejects legitimacy

Critics and international observers have described the vote organised by the military government as an attempt to legitimise its continued rule.

The coup in February 2021 sparked widespread protests that evolved into an armed resistance movement, plunging the country into a prolonged civil war.

Tom Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, has urged the international community not to recognise the election results or any government formed through the process.

Min Aung Hlaing, who currently heads Myanmar’s military administration, is widely expected to become the country’s president.

However, Myanmar’s constitution prohibits the president from simultaneously holding the position of commander-in-chief of the armed forces — the most powerful role in the country — raising uncertainty over whether Min Aung Hlaing would relinquish his military post.

Suu Kyi imprisoned, shadow parliament active

Meanwhile, Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s 80-year-old former leader, remains imprisoned. She is serving a 27-year sentence on multiple charges widely criticised by international observers as politically motivated.

Her party, the National League for Democracy, won landslide victories in the 2015 and 2020 elections but was forced to dissolve in 2023 after refusing to register under new electoral rules imposed by the military government.

On Monday, an opposition “shadow parliament” made up of lawmakers elected in the 2020 polls but prevented from taking office after the coup also held an online session, asserting that it remains Myanmar’s only legitimate legislature.