Myanmar’s Staged Polls: Ballots Without Choice And A Crisis Set To Worsen |
An Election That Convinces No One
When Myanmar’s military chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, announced that staggered elections would begin on December 28, 2025, the reaction across the country was one of cynicism rather than anticipation.
Four years after the 2021 coup that dismantled an elected government, the same generals now claim they are steering the nation back to democracy. Few inside Myanmar, and even fewer outside it, believe that narrative. With key opposition leaders jailed, the National League for Democracy dissolved, and large parts of the country engulfed in civil war, the proposed vote appears less a democratic exercise than an attempt to launder military rule through the ballot box.
Political parties opposed to the junta have already rejected participation, dismissing the polls as a carefully choreographed performance meant to legitimise continued military dominance. In a fractured country where guns, not institutions, determine authority, the promise of “free and fair elections” rings hollow.
Controlled Campaigns, Manufactured Consent
The electoral process is unfolding under suffocating restrictions. Campaigning is permitted only within narrow limits set by the authorities, dissent is criminalised, and state-controlled media saturates the public space with propaganda films portraying the military as the guardian of national unity. Revised election laws impose harsh penalties for criticism, ensuring that any genuine political contest is smothered before it can take shape.
These conditions have reinforced public distrust. For a population traumatised by airstrikes, mass arrests and economic collapse, the election looks detached from lived reality. Rather than reflecting political will, it risks becoming another instrument of coercion.
Designing the Vote to Suit the Generals
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