Virulent Pandemic and Fragile Democracy in Myanmar : Complications of Covid-19 Policies and the 2020 National Elections

The spread of the Covid-19 pandemic to Myanmar posed particular problems for the country, which had an elevated level of vulnerability due to the country’s weak health system, high poverty rates, low levels of development, and weak government capacities. The country struggled to address the pandemic, with public health measures enacted in the midst of a growing surge in positive Covid-19 cases that accelerated in August and September 2020. The arrival of the pandemic coincided with national elections in November 2020. The requirement for political campaigns, voting, and polling stations occurred simultaneously with the imposition of stay-at-home orders, social distancing, business shutdowns, and travel restrictions. Studying events up to January 2021, the paper reviews and compares Myanmar’s concurrent efforts to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic and the national elections, and investigates the legal issues raised by Covid-19 strategies for the state’s management of the 2020 national elections. The analysis then assesses the significance of the Covid-19 pandemic for Myanmar’s election laws and draws implications for the country’s politics. The scope of analysis addresses events up to January 2021 and so does not encompass the 1 February 2021 military coup, but the paper offers some comments for future directions in research to address events in Myanmar after the coup