Election Postponements Election Calendar & COVID-19 The 2020 general elections were announced by the Union Election Commission on 1 July, at a time when there were few active COVID-19 cases in Myanmar. However, with a new outbreak originating in Rakhine state in August, various political parties called for the UEC to delay the general elections in order to protect the public and guarantee a level playing field for all candidates. On 15 September 2020, 24 parties, including the military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), issued an open letter to the commission, asking that the poll date of 8 November be reconsidered 51. Other formations like the People’s Pioneer Party (PPP) or the Democratic Party for a New Society (DPNS) also called for a postponement separately, with the former proposing 27 December as an alternative date to hold the elections. Although some ethnic parties, such as the Mon Unity Party (MUP) and Kachin State People’s Party (KSPP), declined to endorse calls for a postponement, the main political force supporting the holding of the elections as scheduled was undoubtedly the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD). As NLD spokesperson Dr. Myo Nyunt put it: “We believe it is better to hold the election as planned when the situation is still not out of control. Postponing the election when it’s uncertain how the situation might develop in the future will simply result in more problems, including a political crisis on top of the current public health and economic problems 52”. Indeed, while Myanmar’s legal framework explicitly provides for the postponement of elections in the event of natural disasters or if warranted by local security situations 53, it also dictates that the new national legislature should be sworn in when the current Parliament’s term expires on 31 January 2021. As there are no provisions to address what would happen should a lapse in the legislature occur, a postponement of the elections by more than a few weeks, either voluntary or necessary, would lead the country into uncharted territory. Given Myanmar’s long experience with military rule, most stakeholders were unsurprisingly intent on avoiding a potential constitutional crisis. On 19 September, U Myint Naing, a member of the UEC, told reporters that the commission “[didn’t] have any plan to postpone the general election for COVID-19 reasons 54”, and the polls indeed proceeded as initially planned. However, in part because no efforts were made to seek a consensus among political parties, civil society, medical professionals, and other election stakeholders, the decision to push through despite the COVID-19 outbreak was widely depicted as political and most beneficial to the incumbent government, which no doubt affected the perception of legitimacy of the electoral process among the public. Security-Related Postponements Because of Myanmar’s many active conflicts, it was not possible however to hold concurrent elections everywhere in the country. On 16 October, the UEC issued a series of announcements cancelling the holding of the polls in 15 entire townships, nine in Rakhine state and six in Shan state for security 51 https://apnews.com/article/aung-san-suu-kyi-myanmar-health-general-elections-elections061b7bd307ee790335eca6958a694029 52 https://www.irrawaddy.com/elections/myanmars-nld-says-postponing-november-election-lead-chaos.html 53 Article 399(f) of the 2008 Constitution of Myanmar and Article 50 of the Pyithu Hluttaw Election Law, Amyotha Hluttaw Election Law, and Region Hluttaw or State Hluttaw Election Law 54 https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-09-19/myanmar-won-t-postpone-november-polls-electionofficial-says 25