Junta chief confirms yr-end polls plan

Myanmar's junta chief said the country plans to hold elections in December and January, state media reported yesterday, pressing ahead with polls denounced as a sham by international monitors.

The military deposed Myanmar's civilian government in a 2021 coup which sparked a many-sided civil war, but has promoted its election plans as a pathway to peace.

With members of the former government locked away, opposition groups set to boycott the vote and huge tracts of the country controlled by anti-junta rebels, observers say a fair poll is impossible.

State newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar said junta chief Min Aung Hlaing, speaking at a conference in the capital Naypyidaw on Wednesday, "pledged that the election will be held in December this year and January next year".

It is not clear whether the junta plans to hold the election in phases -- a potential sign it would struggle to guarantee security on a single nationwide polling day -- or whether the timetable includes a campaign period. On Wednesday, UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, said the junta is "trying to create this mirage of an election exercise that will create a legitimate civilian government".