Military regime tightens educational qualifications for parliamentary candidates, requiring a degree

The interim government under the military regime has tightened the educational qualifications for parliamentary candidates who will contest in the upcoming sham elections, requiring them to have obtained a degree, it has been learned. The interim government released the draft law amending the election laws for the interim parliament for the seventh time on July 14, and it has been amended in Section 8(c) of the election laws for the People's Assembly, the National Assembly, and the State and Region Assemblies to read: "Must be a graduate from a university, degree college, or college recognized by the State." After the coup, the educational qualification for parliamentary candidates was set at passing the 10th grade, but it has now been raised and tightened to require a degree from a domestic college or university. "This is to block the young students of the CDM who have not yet finished school and the local politicians from ethnic areas who have revolted against their coup. Limiting it to those with a degree at a time when the education system has been destroyed after the military coup is a deliberate blow. It is an attempt to ensure that the power seized by force remains in the hands of the military forever," a veteran politician told the Irrawaddy Times. The draft law amending the People's Assembly Election Law for the seventh time, released today, has added Section 11-a, stating that if a representative party has its registration revoked under the Political Parties Registration Law, its status as a Member of Parliament will be automatically invalidated. However, if a party is dissolved or its registration is revoked, it must apply to transfer to another party within 60 days, and failure to do so will result in the loss of parliamentary status. Similarly, those who have been disqualified by the election tribunal for failing to submit their election expense statements have also been newly restricted under Section 11(d) to prevent them from contesting as candidates. Furthermore, changes have been made to the election campaign period and voting times. The voting time, which was previously set from 6 AM to 4 PM, has been changed to 7 AM to 5 PM in this amendment. Regarding advance voting, the phrase "2 days in advance" has been replaced with "3 days in advance," and "before 4 PM" has been replaced with "before 9 AM." This "interim government" is a group of military cronies, arbitrarily formed, which has held sham elections three times between 2025 and 2026, despite strong objections and rejections from the entire public and the international community, including the United Nations. By repeatedly amending the laws in this manner, the interim government is taking steps to arbitrarily control the central executive structure and regulations of political parties in the mock elections it plans to hold. Photo: MOI