Former Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been moved from prison to house arrest and her sentence has been reduced as part of a prisoner amnesty for a Buddhist holiday.

Accompanying the announcement was a photo of the 80-year-old leader dressed in a traditional white blouse and skirt and sitting on a wooden bench behind a low table facing two unidentified men, one in a police uniform and the other in military uniform. Myanmar’s military information office and state television disclosed the move and shared the photo of her on Thursday (April 30, 2026) night, but when and where the photo was taken was not clear.

Myanmar’s main pro-military party won the parliamentary seat of detained democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi in elections run under the junta’s rule, a party official told AFP on Monday (January 12, 2026).

A senior official from the Union Solidarity and Development Party speaking anonymously because they were not authorised to disclose results said they “won in Kawhmu” — Suu Kyi’s former seat in Yangon region.

“We won 15 lower house seats out of 16 places in Yangon region,” they added, after Kawhmu and dozens of other constituencies voted on Sunday (January 11) in the second stage of a three-phase election.

The Military deposed and detained Suu Kyi in a 2021 coup, claiming she secured a landslide election win over pro-military parties the previous year by means of massive voter fraud.

The final phase of the month-long vote is scheduled for January 25, with the junta saying the election will return power to the people.

But with Suu Kyi still held in seclusion and her hugely popular party dissolved, democracy advocates say the vote has been rigged by a crackdown on dissent and a ballot stacked with Military allies.

Voters in war-torn Myanmar queued up on Sunday (January 11, 2026) to cast their ​ballots in the second stage of a military-run election, following low turnout ‌in the initial round of polls that have been widely criticised ​as a tool to formalise junta rule.

Myanmar has been ravaged by conflict since the military ousted a civilian government in a 2021 coup and detained its leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a civil war that has engulfed large parts of the impoverished nation of 51 million people.

Ms. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, which swept the last election in 2020, has been dissolved along with ​dozens of other anti-junta parties for failing to register for the latest polls, ⁠while rebel groups have refused to take part.

The United Nations, many Western countries and human rights groups say the election is a sham exercise that is neither free, fair nor credible in the absence ​of a meaningful opposition.

Army allies marching towards victory

The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party is leading by a huge margin after winning 90 of the 102 lower house seats contested in the first phase on December 28, 2025, which saw only 52.13% voter turnout, much lower than elections ‌in 2020 and 2015.

“The USDP is on track for a landslide victory, ‌which is hardly a surprise given the extent to which the playing field was tilted in its favour. This included the removal of any serious ‍rivals and a set of laws designed to stifle opposition to the polls,” said Richard Horsey, Senior Myanmar Adviser for Crisis Group.

A final round will take place on ‍January 25. In all, there will be voting in 265 of Myanmar’s 330 townships, including areas where the junta does not have full control.

Transition promised

The junta has said the election will bring political stability and a better future for the country, which is facing one of the most serious humanitarian crises in Asia.

At least 16,600 civilians have died in the conflict since the coup, according to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, and the U.N. estimates that 3.6 million people have been displaced. However, analysts warn that the junta’s ⁠attempt to form a stable administration amid raging conflict is fraught with risk and any military-controlled government is unlikely to gain broad international recognition.

Junta ​chief Min Aung Hlaing last month sidestepped a question from a reporter about his political ⁠ambitions.

He hailed the election as a success during a visit last week to central Myanmar township, where he urged authorities to work to further boost turnout.

“In phase one of the election, a large number of votes were cast, showing that the people have a strong desire to participate in the democratic process,” ⁠state media quoted him as saying. “Therefore, the election can be considered a successful one.”

Close to five years since the February 2021 coup that overturned the Aung San Suu Kyi-led National League for Democracy’s (NLD) landslide electoral victory in the 2020 elections, Myanmar’s military junta, also known as Tatmadaw, is now conducting a three-phase controlled election. The first phase of the “election” was held on December 28 under tight security and saw sparse turnout. Subsequent phases are scheduled for January 11 and 25.

The NLD, whose exiles lead the National Unity Government that oversees Bamar-identity dominated militias called the Peoples’ Defence Forces and is fighting the junta across several parts of the country, was among 40 parties — which accounted for 90% of the seats won in 2020 — that have been barred from contesting. Others include the Arakan National Party in Rakhine and the Shan Nationalities League for Democracy. The junta-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), packed with former junta officials and active-duty officers contesting as civilians, has deployed the largest number of contestants taking on what is considered just token Opposition.

The junta’s strategy is to repeat what it accomplished in 2010 when it installed its generals as civilian rulers to run a government elected in a similarly restricted election. But the difference now is that this election is occurring amid a brutal civil war, where the junta has bombed its own civilian population and hostilities have resulted in thousands of deaths. Min Aung Hlaing’s men have bare control over just about half the country. In at least 65 townships — close to a third of the total — elections are not being held, with the civil war still raging in many rural outposts. Yet the junta has gone ahead with these controlled polls to win some legitimacy with the international community.

Between 2010 and 2020, the reformist general Thein Sein had allowed for gradual inclusion of leading democratic forces in the polity — leading to international recognition and increased trade and investments — before Min Aung Hlaing pulled the plug through the 2021 coup, resulting in international isolation except for support from Russia, Belarus and a hedging China. Under the 2008 Constitution, the military automatically holds 25% of all parliamentary seats, and with the USDP set to retain a dominant position through proportional representation, the Tatmadaw seeks to control the legislature and provide a legal framework for ending the emergency declared since the coup. This, it believes, will help deepen engagement with partners such as China and Russia.

Recent military advances have also encouraged the junta down this path. In late 2023, a rebel alliance of three ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) — the Three Brotherhood Alliance — forced the junta’s withdrawal from northern Shan State and Rakhine State, adding to blows from other long-term insurgent EAOs such as the Kachins, Karens and Karennis, aided by the PDFs’ guerrilla warfare. The TBA’s advances came with tacit approval from Beijing, frustrated by the junta’s inaction on scam centres near the China border that had caused massive losses to Chinese citizens. But once those scam centres were targeted, China pivoted — pressuring at least two TBA groups to sign ceasefires and surrender townships gained in Shan State, closing border trading routes to enforce compliance while stabilising the junta to protect its geo-economic interests. One TBA member, the Arakan Army, has continued operations in Rakhine State, which shares no border with China, gaining significant territory except urban centres like Sittwe.

On the day of polling, junta jets and artillery attacked residential areas of Budalin township in Sagaing Region; the previous day, nine civilians died in similar attacks in Khin-U township. Besides Russian-supplied jets, the junta now deploys Chinese-made drones and motorised paragliders to attack rebel forces and civilians alike for area dominance. This brutality is unsurprising — Min Aung Hlaing faces ongoing proceedings before both the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice, the latter probing genocide against the Rohingya.

The sparse turnout suggests the junta remains deeply unpopular, and the continuing civil war guarantees instability. Yet the resistance’s lack of a centralised structure uniting Bamar guerrillas with EAOs under NUG command, combined with a shifting geopolitical landscape, suggests the junta will maintain its resilience. Besides Russian, Chinese and Belarusian support, Washington’s stance has grown ambivalent under the Trump administration — U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said last month that Myanmar was progressing towards “free and fair elections” and the Treasury recently lifted sanctions on firms close to the junta leadership, fuelling concerns that rare earth minerals may be trumping democracy promotion. The overall result is strategic stalemate, with over 20 million people requiring humanitarian assistance and no end to the suffering in sight.

Myanmar’s junta will stage the third and final round of its heavily restricted elections on January 25, a statement said Thursday (December 25, 2025), just days before polls open for the first batch of ballots.

Democracy watchdogs say the junta-run vote is a charade to rebrand the rule of the military, which snatched power in a 2021 coup triggering a civil war that has seen much of the country captured by rebel factions.

Democratic figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi remains jailed since the putsch, her massively popular party dissolved, and the United Nations has slated the junta for a sweeping pre-election dissent crackdown.

The first round of voting is due on Sunday (December 28), with a second bout of ballots due to be cast on January 11.

The junta-stacked Union Election Commission said in a statement a third round will take place in 63 of the country’s 330 townships on January 25.

Myanmar’s military has ruled the Southeast Asian country for most of its post-independence history, before a 10-year interlude saw a civilian government take the reins in a burst of optimism and reform.

But after Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party trounced pro-military opponents in 2020 elections, military chief Min Aung Hlaing snatched power, alleging widespread voter fraud.

Security forces put down pro-democracy protests, and many activists quit the cities to fight as guerrillas alongside ethnic minority armies that have long held sway in Myanmar’s fringes.

Min Aung Hlaing touts the upcoming polls as a return to democracy and a chance for rebels opposing the military to make peace.

Monitors say the ballot is stacked with a curated list of military allies, while the junta has introduced stark legislation punishing protest or criticism of the vote with up to a decade in prison.

Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi is suffering from worsening heart problems and needs urgent medical attention, her son said on Friday (September 5, 2025), in an appeal for her immediate release from “cruel and life-threatening” custody.

Kim Aris told Reuters that his 80-year-old mother, in military custody since a 2021 coup that deposed her government, had asked to see a cardiologist about a month ago, but he had been unable to determine whether her request had been granted.

“Without proper medical examinations … it is impossible to know what state her heart is in,” he said by phone from London. “I am extremely worried. There is no way of verifying if she is even alive.”

The Nobel Peace Prize laureate has also suffered from bone and gum issues, Mr. Aris said, adding that it was likely she had been injured in an earthquake in March that killed more than 3,700 people. In a Facebook video, he appealed for Ms. Suu Kyi and all political prisoners in Myanmar to be released.

Military spokesman Zaw Min Tun told state media on Saturday evening that reports about her health were intended to distract from military chief Min Aung Hlaing’s visit to China where he met with President Xi Jinping and attended a military parade.

“Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s health is good. They are fabricating this information because we are in China and our Myanmar leader is doing so many activities and they want to hide this news,” he said on MRTV.

Myanmar has been gripped by violence since the military takeover in February 2021, which prompted mass rallies that were crushed by brutal force, sparking a widespread armed uprising.

Ms. Suu Kyi, a long-standing symbol of Myanmar’s pro-democracy movement, is serving a 27-year sentence for offences including incitement, corruption and election fraud, all of which she denies.

One of her last public appearances was in court in May 2021, a few months after the coup, when pictures aired by state television showed her sitting upright in the dock, with her hands in her lap and wearing a surgical mask.

DECADES IN DETENTION

The military justified its takeover on the basis of what it said was widespread fraud in an election that Ms. Suu Kyi’s party won by a landslide, although election monitors found no evidence of cheating.

Foreign governments and rights groups have consistently called for her release.

Starting in late December, the military-backed interim government plans to hold new elections in multiple phases, the first polls since the one that triggered the coup.

Anti-junta groups, including Ms. Suu Kyi’s party, are either boycotting or are barred from running, with only military-backed and approved parties participating. Western governments have criticised the vote as a move to entrench the generals’ power.

Born in 1945 to Myanmar’s independence hero, General Aung San, who was assassinated when she was an infant, Ms. Suu Kyi has spent nearly two decades in detention, including some 15 years under house arrest at her colonial-style family home on Yangon’s Inya Lake, as ordered by a previous junta.

Educated at Oxford University, she married British scholar Michael Aris in 1972 and had two sons with him, before returning to Myanmar in 1988 to care for her ailing mother.

That is also when she joined nationwide protests against military rule, forming the National League for Democracy party and rising to become Myanmar’s most prominent pro-democracy leader.

Myanmar’s junta said Monday (August 18, 2025) that long-promised elections will start on December 28, despite a raging civil war that has put much of the country out of its control and international monitors slating the poll as a charade.

Myanmar has been consumed by conflict since the military deposed the government of democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, making unsubstantiated allegations of electoral fraud.

Also Read | Myanmar junta ends state of emergency; elections planned within six months

Swathes of the country are beyond military control — administered by a myriad of pro-democracy guerrillas and powerful ethnic armed organisations which have pledged to block polls in their enclaves.

“The first phase of the multi-party democratic general election for each parliament will begin on Sunday 28 December 2025,” Myanmar’s Union Election Commission said in a statement.

“Dates for the subsequent phases will be announced later,” the statement added.

Myanmar’s civil war has killed thousands, left more than half the nation in poverty, and more than 3.5 million people living displaced.

Also Read | Myanmar ethnic group vows to block elections in its enclave

The junta has touted elections as a way to end the conflict and offered cash rewards to opposition fighters willing to lay down their arms ahead of the vote.

However Ms. Suu Kyi remains jailed, while many opposition lawmakers ousted by the coup are boycotting it and a U.N. expert has branded the vote a “fraud” designed to rebrand continuing military rule.

Junta chief Gen. Min Aung Hlaing is currently ruling Myanmar as acting president, also serving as the chief of the armed forces which has ruled the country for most of its post-independence history.

Analysts say the election will likely see Gen. Min Aung Hlaing maintain his power over any new government.

Also Read | Myanmar junta mandates prison sentences for election critics

Meanwhile, they say, the vote may cause further splits in already fractious array of opposition groups as they weigh whether to participate in the poll.

A census held last year as preparation for the election estimated it failed to collect data from 19 million of the country’s 51 million people, provisional results said.

The results cited “significant security constraints” as one reason for the shortfall — giving a sign of how limited the reach of the election may be amid the civil war.