Name: Myanmar's junta holds first general election in 5 years: Why are critics questioning its legitimacy?
Uploaded: 2025-12-27T16:57:27.000Z
Duration: 5 min 57 s
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People in Myanmar are preparing to head to the polls this weekend amid a civil war and one of Asia's worst humanitarian crises.

Sunday's poll is the first of three phases of the election which has been condemned by the United nations and Western governments.

Critics say the election is an attempt by the ruling military junta to win legitimacy on the global stage.

The vote is further complicated by the fact that the junta doesn't control the entire country.

It's fighting a civil war that, according to UN estimates, has killed more than 6,000 civilians and displaced 3.6 million people.

Under these sheets are the bodies of dozens of people killed in an airstrike by Myanmar's military.

Tens of thousands of people have died and over 3 million people displaced since the country descended into a bloody civil war.

After the military seized power in a 2021 couple, the armed forces known as the Tatmadaw ousted the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

She's serving a 27 year sentence for charges including election fraud, which she denies.

Suu Kyi is believed to be in solitary confinement in Myanmar's capital.

Since the start of the war, the junta has lost control of some areas of the country to pro democracy guerrilla fighters and powerful ethnic minority armed groups.

Rebels have said they will boycott the election in the parts of Myanmar they control.

Voting is due to take place in three phases over December and January.

The junta has passed laws that it says are to avoid disruption to the election.

There are severe penalties to those who don't obey them.

Only approved parties can put candidates forward.

Two of Myanmar's major parties have either been dissolved or barred from the vote.

the United nations, the UK and Thailand have said it won't be fair or free.

Human rights groups claim the election is a smokescreen aimed at keeping the junta in power.

Mark Famine is director of Burma Campaign uk, a human rights and advocacy organization for Myanmar.

What does Myanmar's military government government want to achieve by staging these elections?

Well, they're in a struggle for their survival in a way they haven't been in their history before.

They facing unprecedented resistance within the country, both peaceful resistance and armed resistance.

And they haven't gained the international legitimacy that they hoped they would after the coup in 2021.

So this election is their latest game plan to try and ensure their survival.

To have a rigged election under a military drafted constitution, present themselves as having reformed and hope that the international community and some people within the country will accept it.

Is there a political opposition left in Myanmar that would even participate in these elections.

Most of the political parties that you would call genuinely democratic and representatives have effectively been banned.

They're not allowed to take part in this election.

So all six of the parties that are competing nationally in this election are either directly from the military or allied or sympathetic to the military.

So people in the country, they don't have any choice here.

And there's real disinterest within Myanmar about these elections.

People know that this is just about trying to rebrand the military, preserve military rule.

They know it's not going to bring about any change and they're not really interested in voting.

But because there's this new electronic voting system that the military have brought in, they're afraid that the military will know who they vote for.

And if they don't vote, they could be in trouble with the military as well.

So, you know, we've always said elections in Myanmar are often held at the point of a gun, but

this one really is people are afraid that if they don't vote, they could end up in jail or punished in other ways.

So there's a techno surveillance angle to this as well.

Now, your organization has repeatedly urged international governments to take action.

How can they increase pressure on Myanmar's government?

Well, immediately after the coup happened, the people in Myanmar, their elected representatives, civil society organizations, they all came out with the same key demands that they wanted from the European Union, asean, rest of the international community, and

that is to cut off sources of arms, to impose arms embargoes, cut off sources of revenue, to deny the military legitimacy and to provide increased humanitarian assistance.

Because we've seen a massive humanitarian crisis with the Myanmar military deliberately targeting civilians, blowing up schools, hospitals and homes to try and terrorize the population into submission.

We did see initially some good, well targeted sanctions from the European Union, the usa, UK and others, but

there haven't been any effective sanctions now for more than a year.

So despite the atrocities that continuing, we're not seeing an international response to those atrocities.

And there's no real effort now to try and cut off the Myanmar military's access to arms and equipment, to revenue.

And this has been a really big disappointment to the people in Myanmar because they are, they're giving their lives daily trying to resist military rule.

They expected other democracies around the world to help them.

And it's been a very disappointing international response, to be honest.

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Myanmar's junta holds first general election in 5 years: Why are critics questioning its legitimacy?

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