Myanmar's military rulers are holding what critics describe as a sham election, a move met with widespread despair, boycotts, and calls for the international community to reject its legitimacy. The second phase of a three-part vote is scheduled for Sunday, nearly five years after the army seized power in a 2021 coup.
Public Defiance and Private Despair
Despite facing ferocious jail terms for any public criticism, private hostility towards the junta and its electoral process is bitter and widespread. The ruling generals promise the vote will bring stability, but the first phase in late December was marred by reports of coercion, exclusion, and violence.
AyeAye, a 54-year-old housewife, told The Independent she will not participate. "This is a fake election intended to create long-term oppression," she said. "Everyone knows Senior General Min Aung Hlaing is power-hungry. He has arrested tens of thousands of innocent people."
She detailed the personal and national trauma: "Thousands have been killed. Hundreds of thousands have fled their homes. Many houses have been burned, and hundreds of monasteries, churches, and mosques have been destroyed. Why, knowing all that, would I vote?"
Her family's suffering is emblematic: her daughter received a 10-year prison sentence in 2022 for online criticism of the military, her husband lost his job, and her two sons have fled abroad to avoid forced conscription.
A Fading Hope for Aung San Suu Kyi
For many, the election underscores the absence of their democratically elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. The 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate was ousted in the 2021 coup and is now serving a 27-year sentence on charges she denies.
"I worry not only about my youngest daughter, but also about our leader, Aung San Suu Kyi," AyeAye said. "My family, relatives, and friends respect and love her like our own mother."
This sentiment is echoed by Gyi, a 65-year-old barber, who called Suu Kyi the country's "hero and ideal leader." However, hope is dimming. "She is 80 and getting weaker, and we are very worried about her health," Gyi said. "We still hope she will return, but our light of hope is slowly fading."
The National League for Democracy (NLD), Suu Kyi's party which won landslide victories in 2015 and 2020, was dissolved by the junta and does not appear on the ballot. Voter turnout in the first round on 28 December was reportedly very low, according to the UN.
International Condemnation and Personal Tragedy
On Thursday, UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Tom Andrews, urged a global rejection of the election results. "By all measures, this is not a free, fair or legitimate election," Andrews stated. "It is a theatrical performance... designed to dupe the international community."
He highlighted the impossible conditions: "You cannot have a free, fair or credible election when thousands of political prisoners are behind bars, credible opposition parties have been dissolved, journalists are muzzled, and fundamental freedoms are crushed."
The human cost is etched in stories like that of Moe, a 48-year-old widowed flower seller. Her eldest son was forcibly conscripted, paid just £68 a month, and killed in battle last year. "I never received any salary or compensation, not even an apology," she said. "I hate the Burmese military for what they did. That’s why I’m not going to vote."
With the junta seeking a veneer of legitimacy, the people of Myanmar, bearing the scars of violence and loss, continue their defiant stand against what they see as a cruel and empty political charade.
