Pre-Election Landscape and Electoral Processes
7 December 2025
Report Summary
The 2025 general election is scheduled to begin on 28 December. Because significant military, political, and diplomatic implications may follow after the polls, the 2025 election has become a critical political event. Local and international observers, as well as policy makers, are increasingly interested in how the election will be conducted, what changes have been introduced to the electoral system, how election-related actors perceive the process, and what post-election scenarios may emerge. However, election-related information and documentation remain difficult for the public to access, and even when available, they are often challenging to interpret. In this report, Data for Myanmar compiles key information related to the 2025 election and provides an analytical overview of the pre-election landscape.
The first section discusses the underlying factors driving the decision to hold the 2025 election. The second section examines the preparatory actions of the Union Election Commission (UEC) and its leadership, who are responsible for administering the polls, and reviews how the electoral procedures have been operationalized. This includes an assessment of amendments to election-related legislation and the changes in the electoral system that are planned for implementation.
The third section analyzes how the 2025 election will be staged, detailing the phase-by-phase rollout plan, the participating townships, and the delineation of constituencies for the Pyithu Hluttaw, Amyotha Hluttaw, and State/Region Hluttaws. It also presents constituency-level seat allocations, the number of candidates fielded in each constituency, and the list of participating political parties along with the number of confirmed candidates per party, supported by maps and data visualizations.
The fourth section explores key issues shaping the pre-election landscape. These include the feasibility of holding elections in all 72 remaining townships under Phase 3, the conditions of conflict-affected areas where polling is expected to take place, the divergent attitudes toward the election, reasons for declining public interest, the implications of the electoral system change and the potential effects of adopting proportional representation (PR), and the state of election-related information flows and media coverage. The final section outlines possible post-election scenarios.
