Campaigning begins in military-run Myanmar ahead of ‘sham’ elections

Two months before an election that has been widely denounced at home and abroad as a clear attempt to give legitimacy to the army’s 2021 takeover of power, campaigning has begun in Myanmar under the military’s control.

The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) launched its campaign on Tuesday in Yangon, the country’s largest city, and the capital Naypyitaw.

In an election that rights organizations like Human Rights Watch have labeled a “sham,” voting will begin on December 28. The European Commission has rejected sending observers, saying it will be neither fair nor free.

Opposition parties dissolved

Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy (NLD) won the last two elections by landslides, has been deposed and imprisoned in a country rife with civil war since it took control in a 2021 coup. Myanmar’s ruling government has defended elections as a means of reconciliation.

However, one in seven national parliament constituencies, many of which are active war zones, will not be able to cast ballots, and dozens of opposition parties, including the NLD, cannot do so after the army-appointed Union Election Commission has mandated that they be disbanded.

A number of opposition organizations, including armed resistance groups, have also issued statements calling for boycotts and saying they will try to thwart the elections.

The military government’s campaign began a day after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a warning that the election might lead to more instability in Myanmar. According to diplomatic sources, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) would not send observers, which would add to the military government’s campaign for international legitimacy.

The USDP is expected to win the most seats because the NLD and any other credible national opposition are absent from the 57 registered candidates for the election.

Election has no meaning at all.

Others expressed their disinterest in the election as small crowds gathered in Yangon and the capital.

A 60-year-old man in Sittwe, Rakhine state, told the AFP news agency, “This election means nothing to me.” No one seems to be supporting it, and it isn’t a legitimate election.