Myanmar junta chief says election to be held by January: state media / Photo: STR - AFP/File
-
In Manchester, people say City scandal is 'shame for football'
-
Haze pushes Kuala Lumpur, Singapore into world's most polluted cities
-
Stocks lacklustre as inflation data weighs on sentiment
-
Dangote's $16bn Kenya refinery 'new chapter' for Africa
-
Israel-bound plane rerouted, pilots wounded in reported fight
-
Ireland coach Hallgrimsson confirms second Israel game will go ahead
-
Truth commission on Sweden's Sami people seeks redress
-
Swift concert attack plan convict fails to get Disney damages
-
Energy costs spark inflation surges in France, Italy
-
Ocon to leave Haas at end of F1 season
-
South Korea break China hearts to reach Asian Games football final
-
Indonesia razes poolside prison 'villas' where whisky, TVs seized
-
Eala storms into Asian Games semi-finals to thrill adoring fans
-
Japan court rules human voice is protected in TikTok AI case
-
Turkey freezes ex-minister's assets as fund crisis grows
-
French inflation jumps to 3% in September on energy costs
-
What we know about the North Korean POW dispute
-
South Korea score late to reach Asian Games football final
-
Most equities rise after oil price plunge, US data in focus
-
Tom Kim defies jet-lag, Kho cards ace as Asian Games golf begins
-
Polar oceans transformed as warming melts ice habitats: research
-
Thai teen rocker Nene aims to tour, write music... and return to school
-
Lost shark becomes viral star in South Korea
-
Ivory Coast clamps down on harmful illegal gold rush
-
Dangote to launch $16bn refinery in Kenya
-
Nagoya mayor says sorry for Asian Games 'inconveniences'
-
North Korean leader 'extremely obese': Seoul spy agency
-
G20 trade officials meet under shadow of tariffs, overcapacity
-
Yankees and pope-backed White Sox start MLB playoffs with wins
-
India's fat dog vote goes viral
-
Malaysia's ex-PM Mahathir in hospital for observation
-
Asian Games crowds in spotlight as 998 see hosts in 50,000 stadium
-
'No limits': Marathon world record holder Sawe chasing history
-
The eight stadiums for the 2027 Rugby World Cup
-
Countdown begins to biggest-ever Rugby World Cup
-
Thieves swipe drugs under nose of Fiji police, swap with flour
-
Bangladesh women lose ground after quota reform
-
South Korea demands North apologise for DMZ mine blasts
-
Vietnam admits 'differing opinions' on Hanoi development
-
In Nepal's flood zone, teachers mourn students who never returned
-
Stocks temper gains as oil pares heavy losses, US data in focus
-
US Supreme Court lifts limits on third-country deportations
-
New Zealand denies breaching climate commitments to EU
-
Antonelli eager to 're-establish order' as F1 returns to Malaysia
-
Albert becomes youngest US scorer in 4-2 win over Chile
-
Paw-fect candidate: Australia finds new koala rescue dog
-
Pirate island's plunging population shows Greece's demographic decline
-
One third of world population exposed to harmful air pollution: monitor
-
With elections ahead, Latvia's Russian-speakers reject Moscow's help
-
North Korea denies South's claim it was apparently behind DMZ mine blasts
Myanmar junta chief says election to be held by January: state media
Myanmar's junta chief said the country would hold an election in December or January, the first in the war-torn nation since the military staged a coup in 2021.
"We are planning to hold the election in December 2025 or ... by January 2026," General Min Aung Hlaing was quoted as saying in the state-run newspaper Global New Light of Myanmar published Saturday.
The vote would be "free and fair" he said on Friday during a state visit to Belarus, adding that 53 political parties had "submitted their lists" to participate.
"We also invite observation teams from Belarus to come and observe" the election, he said during a meeting with Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko in Minsk.
The Myanmar military seized power in 2021, making unsubstantiated claims of massive electoral fraud in 2020 polls won resoundingly by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).
It has since unleashed a bloody crackdown on dissent and as fighting ravages swathes of the country had repeatedly delayed plans for fresh polls that critics say will be neither free nor fair.
The junta is struggling to crush widespread opposition to its rule from ethnic rebel groups and pro-democracy "People's Defence Forces".
In 2022, the junta-stacked election commission announced that Suu Kyi's NLD would be dissolved for failing to re-register under a tough new military-drafted electoral law.
Junta-appointed foreign minister Than Swe in December told delegates from five neighbouring countries at a meeting in Bangkok that "progress was being made" towards an election in 2025.
Southeast Asian foreign ministers in January told the junta to prioritise a ceasefire in its civil war over fresh elections during a meeting in Malaysia.
The United States has said any elections under the junta would be a "sham", while analysts say polls would be targeted by the military's opponents and spark further bloodshed.
A joint statement by election experts published on the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance's website in February said they "unequivocally reject" plans by Myanmar's junta to hold an election in 2025.
M.Gameiro--PC
