Myanmar military leader Min Aung Hlaing recently visited Russia and Belarus, during which he requested Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to send election observers for the military council’s illegal election. Lukashenko agreed to this request. Additionally, the Russian government expressed its support for the military council’s illegal election. Min Aung Hlaing announced that the election would be held either in December this year or January next year.
Civil society organizations have strongly condemned the assistance offered by Belarus and Russia for the military council’s illegal election. Defend Myanmar Democracy, a civil society organization, issued a statement declaring that the military council’s election is merely an attempt to legitimize their illegal seizure of power, and the planned observation by Lukashenko’s representatives amounts to one authoritarian regime supporting a criminal military council.
Belarusian President Lukashenko has ruled his country with an iron fist for over three decades and is known as Europe’s last dictator. In the 2020 Belarusian election, despite the opposition party winning the majority of votes, Lukashenko refused to transfer power and instead arrested opposition leaders to maintain his control. In the 2025 election, he claimed victory with 87% of the votes, which led to widespread public protests against the results.
Lukashenko and his government are currently under sanctions and blacklisted by the United States, European Union, Australia, Japan, and New Zealand. Civil society organizations have warned that supporting the military council’s illegal election is an action that undermines democratic systems. They have called on the international community to stand with the people fighting for democracy and reject any attempts by the criminal military council and its allies to legitimize their power through fraudulent elections.
