Myanmar parliament dominated by pro-military party convenes after 5 years

New parliament opens for the first time since the 2021 coup after elections that excluded major opposition parties.

Myanmar’s parliament has convened for the first time since the 2021 coup after recent elections saw the pro-military party winning most of the seats as major opposition parties were barred from running.

The opening of ⁠the new parliament on Monday followed phased elections in December and January, which the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) dominated amid low voter turnout and no viable opposition.

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A quarter of the available seats in the upper and lower houses – 166 seats – were reserved for the military, and the USDP won 339 of the rest. Twenty-one other parties won from one to 20 seats each.

During Monday’s session, Khin Yi, the chairman of the military-backed USDP, was elected speaker of the lower house. He is a former general and police chief, widely regarded as a close ally of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar’s military ruler.

In addition, a new five-member panel, the Union ⁠Consultative Council, will be established in what some experts have called a “superbody” that would allow Min Aung Hlaing to maintain his grip on both the military and civilian administration.

An official announcement from the Union Election Commission said the upper house of parliament will meet on Wednesday and a joint session was anticipated on Friday.

Military officers who also serve as members of Myanmar’s parliament attend a session of the Pyithu Hluttaw on March 16, 2026 [AFP]

Myanmar’s last widely recognised general election in November 2020 delivered a landslide victory to the National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. The military rejected the results, alleging widespread voter fraud without presenting credible evidence.

In February 2021, the armed forces detained Suu Kyi and other senior NLD leaders, declared a state of emergency and transferred power to the military, triggering nationwide protests and violent crackdowns. The 80-year-old former leader is serving a 27-year prison term on charges widely viewed as spurious and politically motivated.

Political parties associated with the former ruling NLD were dissolved or barred from participating in the latest elections while strict laws criminalised public criticism of the vote.

Myanmar has been plagued by civil war and a humanitarian crisis affecting millions of its people since the 2021 coup.

The takeover spurred pro-democracy activists to organise resistance groups nationwide, many of which eventually joined forces with long-established ethnic armed organisations that were already battling the central government.

Large areas of Myanmar are now outside the control of the military administration.

Critics, including democracy watchdog groups and opposition figures, said the recent electoral process lacked transparency and fairness.

Human Rights Watch already had called them “sham elections” before the voting and described them as a “desperate bid for international legitimacy after nearly five years of brutal military repression”.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations declared it would not recognise the election results.

Union Solidarity and Development Party Chairman Khin Yi was elected speaker [AFP]