Denounce the illegitimate military junta’s crumbling sham election plan
Denounce the illegitimate military junta’s crumbling sham election plan
Support must be directed to resistance movement’s bottom-up efforts towards federal democracy
- The Myanmar military junta plans to hold a sham election as one of its hallmark attempts to claim a democratic mandate, gain international legitimacy, and normalize its relations with foreign countries.
- The military junta lacks any legitimacy to conduct a national election, failing to seize control of the country, and plunging the country into a dire human rights, humanitarian, and economic catastrophe.
- The international community must denounce the military junta’s sham election plans, and instead actively support the people of Myanmar in their pursuit of genuine federal democracy and sustainable peace.
The world must unequivocally denounce the Myanmar military junta’s sham election plans, as well as halt any political, financial, or technological support that fortifies its preparations for a forced vote. Instead, the international community must direct its support to the Myanmar people’s efforts to build federal democracy, said Progressive Voice.
“You Will Never Get the Chance to Rule Us!”: The Myanmar Military Junta’s Crumbling Sham Election Plan analyzes the military junta’s plans and related groundwork for a sham election – one of its hallmark attempts to claim a democratic mandate, usher in junta-imposed “normalcy,” and bid for the international legitimacy it so desperately seeks.
27.5 million Myanmar people already cast their votes in the November 2020 general election – the results of which showed the Myanmar people’s unwavering commitment to a democratic future without military control. That popular vote still holds effect through the National Unity Government – a legitimate interim government that is working with ethnic councils and Ethnic Resistance Organizations to establish a genuine federal democracy in Myanmar.
The military junta’s sham election plans go hand in hand with its relentless violence against Myanmar’s people. Over the last three years, to prepare for a sham election, the military junta has imposed illegal draconian laws to tyrannize its opponents, disband other political parties, and guarantee its success in a junta-orchestrated election.
Since the start of the failed coup, the Myanmar people’s united, coordinated resistance movement has emphatically rejected the military junta and its sham election plans. The people of Myanmar have thus collectively prevented the military junta from seizing effective control of the country. The military junta therefore has no legitimacy to organize and conduct an election.
Today, because of the people’s resistance, the military junta lacks effective and administrative control of major parts of Myanmar. Across the country, resistance groups have been building Myanmar’s federal future from the ground up with inclusive, people-centric governance.
Khin Ohmar, Founder and Chairperson of Progressive Voice, said: “The illegal and murderous military junta has absolutely no legitimacy to plan for and hold an election in Myanmar. The international community must not fall prey to the military junta’s desperate grasp at legitimacy – which will only be weaponized to misrepresent the grave reality of Myanmar’s multi-faceted crisis and prolong the military junta’s decades-long oppression of the people.
“Going forward, the international community must halt any and all political, technical, financial, and material support to the military junta and its plans for a sham election. Instead, the international community must immediately shift and increase its support to the bottom-up nation-building for a federal democratic Myanmar, which is occurring across the country through local civil society and community-based organizations, Ethnic Resistance Organizations, and the National Unity Government.”
The briefing paper was produced based on desk research, including reports and statements by election observers, frontline humanitarian responders, local media, and civil society organizations from 2020 to 2024.
Download the briefing paper “You Will Never Get the Chance to Rule Us!”: The Myanmar Military Junta’s Crumbling Sham Election Plans here: http://tinyurl.com/438ctb5v
About Progressive Voice
Progressive Voice is a participatory rights-based policy research and advocacy organization rooted in civil society, that maintains strong networks and relationships with grassroots organizations and community-based organizations throughout Myanmar. http://progressivevoicemyanmar.org/
For more information, please contact:
- Khin Ohmar, Chairperson of Progressive Voice; [email protected]
