Violent Sham Election Preparations Continue

Escalating its violent preparations for its planned illegal sham election, the junta has arrested and sentenced the first person under its illegitimate “election protection law.” While the junta continues intensifying its attempts to gain territorial and administrative control from the resistance movement, primarily through bombardment of civilians, its political maneuvers include positioning only military proxy parties to stand, as well as collaborating with supportive authoritarian foreign states—principally China. The international community must firmly reject this farcical election as well as its results. The Myanmar people have wholeheartedly rejected the sham election as it is illegal and illegitimate. Instead, the international community must support their pursuit of genuine inclusive federal democracy.

As reported last week, the junta has sentenced Nay Thway, a 36-year-old man from Taunggyi, Shan State, to seven years’ imprisonment under its so-called “election protection law” for criticizing the sham election over his concerns for public safety on Facebook. Introduced on 29 July, the illegitimate law carries draconian penalties ranging from 3-5 years’ imprisonment to the death penalty for any perceived opposition to the sham election—during preparations or in voting proceedings. With the junta having already arrested 29,676 political prisoners since the 2021 attempted coup—22,400 of whom remain detained—this new illegitimate measure adds further mechanisms by which the junta attempts to control the Myanmar people through violence, systematic oppression, and terror.

In tandem, the junta is enhancing its digital surveillance capabilities with the help of China. An investigative report from Justice For Myanmar reveals the extent of Chinese support for the junta’s sham election. Geedge Networks, a Chinese state-linked company, is implementing digital surveillance technology in Myanmar, giving the junta unrestricted access to monitor people’s online activities and trace their locations in real time. Digital terror through online censorship, monitoring, and restrictions on mobile usage is an already well-used element of the junta’s toolkit of tyranny, but this technological advancement is hugely concerning for its inevitable use against those who reject the sham election—already brazenly exemplified by the detention of Nay Thway. Echoing Justice For Myanmar’s calls, it is essential that Geedge Networks and other telecommunications companies facilitating the junta’s digital terror are sanctioned and investigated for their aiding and abetting of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Myanmar.

China’s close political and economic ties with the military junta also involve ongoing arms sales and the lending of political legitimacy in the international arena. In familiar style, at the UN Human Rights Council’s 60th Session on 8 September, China—joined by Russia and Belarus—referred to Myanmar’s human rights and humanitarian crisis as an “internal affair” and cautioned against international involvement against the junta. Nonetheless, displaying its own hypocrisy, China has made its continuous and integral support to the criminal junta’s daily bombardment of civilians and relentless violation of their human rights clear as day. War crimes, crimes against humanity, genocide, and the widespread and systematic human rights abuses, of which the junta is guilty, are not an “internal affair.” They are a scourge on the conscience of humanity, and the international community must act to stop such inhuman atrocities—including by completely rejecting the sham election.

Further removing any façade of democratic procedure, the junta-run Union Election Commission (UEC) has de-registered four political parties, three of which would have contested the junta’s Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). The 58 parties remaining registered to participate across Myanmar are all approved by the junta’s UEC. Demonstrating the people’s rejection of the sham election, the junta’s attempts to coerce Myanmar people abroad to register for advance voting through its embassies are utterly failing, and the deadline has been pushed back due to so few registrations. Myanmar people—both in the country and abroad—reject the sham election for what it is: the attempt of a murderous junta to fabricate false legitimacy through political manipulation and atrocity crimes.

The junta recently announced its plan to hold the first phase of its sham election in 102 townships on 28 December—constituting less than a third of Myanmar’s total 330 townships—due to its lack of effective territorial and administrative control across the country. Seeking to expand its territorial control and push back resistance forces’ advances in the lead-up to the sham election, the junta is bombarding civilians with ever-intensifying airstrikes and ground attacks. The junta’s attempts to manufacture political legitimacy through illegal means and relentless egregious violence cannot be rewarded by the international community in the form of sham election support or “normalized” relations in its aftermath. In addition, decisive action must follow this escalation in civilian attacks, with sustained, targeted, and coordinated sanctions on the junta and businesses supplying it with arms, dual-use goods, aviation fuel, and financial support.

Silence from international actors cannot be accepted on the sham election itself nor the escalation of atrocities and human rights violations occurring in its wake. While the junta continues its bloody quest for illegitimate political power, it must be diplomatically isolated by international actors—particularly ASEAN and Myanmar’s other neighboring countries—and there must be political recognition of Myanmar’s legitimate representatives. Moreover, taking a principled stand, the UN General Assembly must respond to the calls of the Myanmar people, and adopt a resolution rejecting the sham election and supporting their ongoing efforts to build an inclusive federal democracy from the ground up.

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[1] One year following the 1988 pro-democracy uprising, the former military junta changed the country’s name from Burma to Myanmar overnight. Progressive Voice uses the term ‘Myanmar’ in acknowledgement that most people of the country use this term. However, the deception of inclusiveness and the historical process of coercion by the former State Peace and Development Council military regime into usage of ‘Myanmar’ rather than ‘Burma’ without the consent of the people is recognized and not forgotten. Thus, under certain circumstances, ‘Burma’ is used.

Progressive Voice is a participatory, rights-based policy research and advocacy organization that was born out of Burma Partnership. Burma Partnership officially ended its work on October 10, 2016 transitioning to a rights-based policy research and advocacy organization called Progressive Voice. For further information, please see our press release “Burma Partnership Celebrates Continuing Regional Solidarity for Burma and Embraces the Work Ahead for Progressive Voice.”