ASIATODAY.ID, YANGON – Myanmar’s military-led election has been denounced as a carefully choreographed facade designed to entrench junta power, following revelations of widespread coercion, exclusion and violence during the first round of voting.
In a strongly worded statement issued on Thursday, Tom Andrews, the UN Human Rights Council–appointed Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, urged the international community to reject the electoral process outright, warning that it bears no resemblance to a democratic exercise.
“The first phase of voting exposed what this process truly is: a junta-orchestrated sham,” Andrews said, referring to polls held on 28 December.
“By all measures, this is not a free, fair, or legitimate election. It is a theatrical performance meant to deceive the international community while crushing the will of the people.”
Engineered to entrench military rule
Myanmar’s military authorities initiated the staged voting process nearly five years after seizing power in a February 2021 coup, which overturned the results of the 2020 general election.
Since then, the country has spiralled into nationwide armed conflict, with clashes between the junta and ethnic armed groups triggering mass displacement, economic collapse and an escalating humanitarian crisis — further aggravated by devastating earthquakes in March 2025.
Despite claiming to hold nationwide polls, the junta has already excluded at least 65 townships and thousands of wards and village tracts from voting, highlighting its lack of control over large parts of the country. Two additional voting rounds are scheduled for 11 and 25 January.
Low turnout, predictable results
According to reports cited by Andrews, voter turnout in the first round was extremely low, even as authorities relied on intimidation and threats to force participation.
Myanmar’s former ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) — which won landslide victories in both the 2015 and 2020 elections — was barred from contesting after being dissolved by the military. Its leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, remains detained, with her whereabouts and condition still unknown.
Official results showed the junta’s proxy, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), claiming nearly 90 per cent of contested seats in the lower house of parliament.
“It should surprise no one,” Andrews said.
“The military engineered this election to guarantee victory for its proxy, entrench its domination, and manufacture a false sense of legitimacy while violence and repression continue unabated.”
Coercion, threats and fear
The UN expert detailed systematic coercion, including threats of conscription used to force young people to vote. Displaced persons, students, civil servants and prisoners were reportedly pressured under threats of losing access to humanitarian aid, education, immigration documents and other essential services.
“This is not political participation,” Andrews said. “It is coercion. You cannot hold a credible election when thousands of political prisoners are behind bars, opposition parties are dissolved, journalists are silenced, and basic freedoms are crushed.”
While condemning attacks on election officials, Andrews stressed that civilians must never be targeted, regardless of the perpetrators. “Attacks against civilians, by any armed group, are illegal and unacceptable,” he said.
Calls for global rejection
Andrews urged UN Member States to isolate the junta, refuse recognition of the electoral process, and press military leaders to cancel the remaining voting phases.
“The international community must make clear that Myanmar’s future belongs to its people, not to those who imprison, silence and terrorise them,” he said.
UN officials have repeatedly warned that elections conducted under current conditions risk deepening instability rather than restoring democracy.
Ahead of the vote, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk cautioned that pervasive fear, violence and repression have erased any space for genuine political participation. (AT Network)
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