The ruling junta is ignoring the election and some international observers dismiss it as a pretext to continue military rule.
According to Min Aung Hlaing, the election is no less legitimate because it is overseen by the military.
"We guarantee a free and fair election," Min Aung Hlaing said as he voted on Sunday.
Sunday is the first day of the month-long election. The last election in the country was in 2020, when the NLD party of now-jailed Aung San Suu Kyi won a landslide victory. The junta declared that election result invalid when it seized power in a coup in 2021.
Since then, the military has been waging war against a number of resistance militias in the country. The junta has displaced hundreds of thousands, is accused of genocide and human rights violations, and has killed civilians in indiscriminate aerial bombings.
