Elections in Myanmar, CAR, and Ivory Coast Test Democratic Resilience

Three nations across separate continents held pivotal, yet deeply contested, electoral events on Sunday, December 28, 2025, illustrating a broader global trend where polls are utilized by entrenched powers to assert legitimacy amid internal conflict. Myanmar began the first phase of a restricted, three-phased general election under the strain of an ongoing civil war. Simultaneously, the Central African Republic (CAR) conducted a historic quadruple vote, while Ivory Coast finalized its parliamentary contests following a controversial presidential election. These synchronized events underscore persistent themes of democratic erosion and the strategic deployment of electoral processes for regime consolidation.

In Myanmar, the military junta, formally the State Security and Peace Commission (SSPC), initiated voting across 102 of 330 townships, including the administrative capital Naypyidaw, Yangon, and Mandalay. Subsequent phases are scheduled for January 11 and January 25, 2026. This process proceeds while the military controls less than half of the national territory, effectively excluding rebel-held areas from participation, a situation UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk noted involves widespread violence and coercion. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who guaranteed a 'free and fair election,' leads the junta, which has prosecuted over 200 individuals for election disruption under recently enacted legislation. The election follows the February 2021 coup that removed Aung San Suu Kyi; only six parties, including the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), qualified to contest nationwide among 4,800 candidates. Western governments and human rights organizations universally dismiss the polls as a mechanism to legitimize the junta’s rule.

The Central African Republic held its quadruple election—encompassing presidential, legislative, regional, and municipal contests—on the same day. Incumbent President Faustin-Archange Touadéra, in power since 2016, sought a controversial third term, a possibility created by a 2023 constitutional referendum that eliminated term limits and extended mandates to seven years. Approximately 2.39 million registered voters cast ballots, with provisional results anticipated by January 5, 2026, and a potential runoff set for February 15, 2026. Key opposition figures, including former Prime Ministers Anicet-Georges Dologuélé and Henri-Marie Dondra, alleged an unequal playing field after being cleared to stand by the Constitutional Court, while a faction, the Republican Bloc for the Defense of the Constitution (BRDC), boycotted the poll. Touadéra’s government cites infrastructure improvements as evidence of stabilizing security, yet critics point to fragile security conditions complicated by the presence of Russian and Rwandan security forces.

Ivory Coast concluded its legislative elections on Saturday, December 27, 2025, to renew the 255 seats in the National Assembly for a five-year term, following President Alassane Ouattara’s contentious re-election in October 2025. The parliamentary vote was characterized by a significantly low turnout, with an early provisional participation rate of 32.35% reported on December 28, below the 37.88% recorded in the 2021 legislative elections, amid widespread opposition boycotts. Over 2,700 candidates contested the seats, but major opposition parties, such as Laurent Gbagbo’s African Peoples' Party (PPA-CI), refused to participate, citing conditions unsuitable for a credible election. The ruling Rally of Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace (RHDP) faced accusations of illegal voter data collection and bribery from the Democratic Party of Côte d'Ivoire (PDCI) leader, Tidjane Thiam. President Ouattara, 83, who won the preceding presidential vote with 89.77% on a 50.10% turnout, urged citizen mobilization to consolidate stability, while the low participation rate tests the mandate of the incoming legislature.

Collectively, these three elections—Myanmar’s military-managed contest amid active warfare, CAR’s term-limit extension vote supported by external security actors, and Ivory Coast’s low-turnout legislative race—demonstrate a global pattern where electoral mechanics are deployed to mask authoritarian continuity rather than facilitate genuine democratic transitions. The UN estimates that in Myanmar alone, over 16 million people will require life-saving assistance in 2026, underscoring the humanitarian consequences of the political theatre.