A Military-Controlled Parliament in Myanmar Convenes for First Time in Five Years 

More than five years after being dissolved in a February 2021 military coup, the lower house of Myanmar’s national parliament convened on Monday, to be followed on Wednesday by the upper chamber. The convening comes after an election widely seen as a sham designed to bolster the military’s control of the government. The military controls only about 20% of the country; the remainder consists of highly contested territory or areas under the control of various rebel militias, estimated at roughly 42%. 

The military has long retained a significant portion of parliamentary seats under the constitution, amounting to one quarter of seats under the military-written charter currently in place. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party was the major winner in the elections, securing 339 seats across both chambers. No other party won more than 20 seats, with the main opposition parties prohibited from participating in the election. 

Altogether, the military and its allies hold nearly 90% of the seats across both chambers of parliament, ensuring continued military domination of the country. 

Myanmar’s military, known locally as the Tatmadaw, is currently waging what has been described as the world’s longest civil war against its civilian population, bombing churches, mosques, hospitals, and entire villages. Its genocide against the ethnoreligious Rohingya minority is ongoing and has led to the displacement of at least 1.5 million people and the deaths of tens of thousands. 

Earlier this year, the Tatmadaw bombed a predominantly Mennonite Christian village, drawing international condemnation. This strike was not an anomaly — according to the Myanmar Peace Monitor, the Tatmadaw struck more than 1,000 civilian locations during a recent 15-month period. 

In March 2025, the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) released a report criticizing the Tatmadaw for its systematic repression of religious minorities and urging the international community to increase attention to the plight of those persecuted in Myanmar. 

“The country has seen the displacement of over 3.5 million people in recent years,” the USCIRF report noted, “including more than 90,000 in Christian-majority Chin State, 237,200 in Kachin State, and one million Muslim-majority Rohingya refugees.” 

In a March 2026 report, USCIRF again highlighted the Tatmadaw’s egregious attacks on religious minorities of all kinds, including Christians. “Churches,” the report noted, “particularly those in Christian-majority areas, continued to endure airstrikes and torching.” 

Though a large majority of the population is ethnic Burman and an even greater percentage is Buddhist, the communities that make up the remainder are well-established, well-organized, and, for the most part, predate the modern state by centuries. 

In many cases, Myanmar’s ethnic minorities have also taken on distinct religious identities. About 20% to 30% of ethnic Karen are Christians, while other groups — such as the Chin — are more than 90% Christian. This overlap of ethnic and religious identity has created a particularly volatile situation for believers. 

Representing an extremist interpretation of Buddhism, the Burmese military has a long history of violence against the people of Myanmar, including ethnic and religious minorities such as the Muslim-majority Rohingya and the Christian-majority Chin. 

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