The Interim Chin National Consultative Council (ICNCC) has officially released a statement on August 19 opposing the sham election planned by the coup-making military that has seized power through force. The ICNCC stated that the military, which has historically undermined Myanmar’s democracy through successive eras, continues to completely disregard the will of the people and is preparing to hold a fraudulent election through various means.
The military council’s sham election is merely an attempt to legitimize their illegal 2021 military coup and nullify the results of the 2020 general election along with the legitimacy of elected parliamentary representatives. The ICNCC emphasized that the military council is orchestrating this fake election to maintain their illegitimate power, noting that the military council is neither a legitimate government nor has any authority to conduct elections.
Since the day of the coup, the military council has been committing war crimes including brutally killing innocent civilians, arbitrarily arresting thousands of people, using civilians as human shields, burning down residential homes and churches, conducting airstrikes on schools and villages, and forcing civilians into military service. The ICNCC pointed out that while people are being deprived of their basic rights and millions are displaced from their homes, any election preparation under these circumstances cannot have freedom, fairness, or transparency.
The ICNCC warned that the military council’s sham election would only represent the interests of the military group and cannot truly reflect the will of the people. Rather than fostering peace and democracy, this election will only deepen existing conflicts. The ICNCC cautioned that anyone participating in or supporting the military council’s election would be considered complicit in the military’s crimes against the people and would be regarded as participants in war crimes. Therefore, the ICNCC urged both the public and international governments and organizations to completely reject, oppose, and refuse to recognize the military council’s sham election.
