<figure id="attachment_3266233" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3266233" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-3266233" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/19fe8f0e-kayan-national-army-myanmar-25012026.webp" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3266233" class="wp-caption-text">Members of the Kayan National Army (KNA) stand guard around their base camp in Pekon township, in Myanmar&#8217;s eastern Shan State. (AFP pic)</figcaption></figure>
PEKON: Fighters from Myanmar&#8217;s rebel Kayan National Army stood guard Sunday on a hilltop overlooking a displaced people&#8217;s camp in Pekon as voters went to the polls in junta-controlled parts of the constituency.
Pekon, in Shan state in Myanmar&#8217;s northeast, illustrates the country&#8217;s stark divisions and the limits of the junta&#8217;s reach.
About 90km (56 miles) from the Thai border, it has been split by the civil war triggered by the military&#8217;s coup five years ago.
Hundreds live at the camp, a scattering of bamboo structures perched in a mountain valley with plastic sheeting for roofs and walls.
In the early morning chill, they crouch over cooking fires, just a handful of the millions of victims of the country&#8217;s humanitarian crisis.
&#8220;While the election is happening, they are still bombing the public by plane,&#8221; said Simonet, 40, wearing a thin black jacket as the morning cold misted his breath.
&#8220;If you ask me if the election will bring peace, I don&#8217;t think so.&#8221;
The junta has touted the vote as a chance for reconciliation but launched a withering campaign of offensives in the run-up to claw back ground.
The military pledges the election will return power to the people, and state TV showed polling stations opening in junta-held portions of Pekon.
Simonet&#8217;s camp was among the places listed to vote in the month-long election&#8217;s third and final phase on Sunday.
&#8216;We don&#8217;t trust them&#8217;
But it remains under the control of anti-junta forces – hundreds of different factions have carved out enclaves where they run parallel administrations beyond the military&#8217;s writ.
&#8220;I don&#8217;t think anything will be different with the new government,&#8221; said Simonet, who goes by only one name.
&#8220;Since they don&#8217;t have any trust in the public, we don&#8217;t trust them.&#8221;
Estimates of how much territory the military has lost to rebels vary widely, but the junta has called off voting in about one in five townships.
In junta-held territory, the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party is on course for a landslide win, bolstering critics who say the vote has been rigged to prolong the armed forces&#8217; reign.
&#8220;It&#8217;s impossible for it to be free and fair,&#8221; said 20-year-old William, another resident of the Pekon displaced camp, who also goes by one name.
&#8220;I believe they&#8217;re holding it just to sustain their power,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;No one else wants to compete and the people have no desire to vote.&#8221;
Touring polling stations in Mandalay, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing urged the public &#8220;to work for the good of the nation and to be open-minded&#8221; after the poll.
But out in Pekon, the battle lines have been drawn.
&#8220;This isn&#8217;t a government we chose,&#8221; said William.

MatchPoint Times

Split decision: war divides Myanmar constituency

Pekon, located 90km from the Thai border, reflects Myanmar’s divisions and junta limits, split by civil war since the military coup five years ago.

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