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              Congressional                                                        ____







Burma's Election and Possible U.S.

Revocation of Temporary Protected Status



February 13, 2026


Against the backdrop of ongoing conflicts across much of Burma (also known as Myanmar), the
country's military government conducted a three-phase national election for national and regional
parliaments that concluded on January 25, 2026. Military-backed parties, headed by the Union Solidarity
and Development Party (USDP), won an overwhelming majority, according to state media. Reports
indicate that a new, purportedly civilian, government could be seated by April. With most opposition
parties barred from taking part and voting impossible in parts of the war-torn country, the United Nations
(UN) special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar described the elections as
illegitimate. Other international observers have described the process as a sham.
Burma  has been under military rule since a February 2021 coup d'etat, which prevented the seating of a
democratically elected Parliament. The coup brought to an end a decade-long period in which Burma was
led by a hybrid civilian-military government. In the five years since the coup, decades-long conflicts
between the military and numerous ethnic armed organizations have continued, and new conflicts with
anti-military militia have emerged throughout the country and displaced an estimated 3.6 million people,
over 6.5% of the overall population, according to the UN. As of January 2026, the military reportedly
controls less than half the country's overall land area. Polling stations covered only parts of Burma, and
the military reportedly conducted offensives to secure some areas in the weeks ahead of the polls.
Some  international observers have argued that the polls are aimed primarily at gamering some degree of
international recognition for a military-dominated government. Burma's leading opposition party, Nobel-
laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD)-the winner of the most recent
elections in 2020-was banned from taking part, as were other opposition parties. (Aung San Suu Kyi,
80, has been in prison since the 2021 coup.) According to media reports, state violence, including military
airstrikes, took place ahead of the elections, and the junta made numerous public arrests of peaceful
protesters opposing the polls. The junta's Election Commission reported turnout of around 55%, below
voting rates in the past three elections.
Burma's current military government, known as the State Administration Council (SAC) and led by
military leader Min Aung Hlaing, has been isolated internationally since it took power in 2021. The
United States and other nations have imposed a range of sanctions on the regime, its backers, and

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