Myanmar ruling party National League of Democracy won a landslide victory in the general election on 8 November 2020, winning 396 out of 476 elected seats (83%) in the Union Parliament. The military-linked opposition Union Solidarity and Development Party, however, alleged that there were irregularities in the electoral process and demanded fresh elections with the cooperation of the Myanmar military.

USDP filed 174 out of the 287 election-related complaints that the Union Election Commission (UEC) received. The military also claimed that it had found nearly 10.5 million irregularities in the voter list after the elections.

The UEC was set to establish election tribunals to hear the election complaints in early February 2021 but on 1 February 2021, the Myanmar military staged a coup on the allegation of voter fraud undermining the voice of the people through the electoral process. Since then, the military junta has been committing crimes against humanity killing over 1,500 people. The military has also been repressing the political and civil freedoms of the Myanmar people. The junta-appointed UEC was tasked to change the Myanmar electoral system, seen as a move that would benefit the Myanmar military and the coup leader Aung Min Hlaing.

In the first year since the military staged a coup in Myanmar, the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) compiled the key developments in the country which reflect the junta’s repression on the people of Myanmar and their elected representatives.