In Pathein Township, Ayeyarwady Region, the terrorist military council is forcibly gathering people for a mock voting system demonstration, deliberately excluding villages known to be strongholds of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Local residents report that the military is compelling 500 people from each village tract to participate in button-pressing demonstrations for the voting system. Beginning on the morning of August 26, the military forces began coercing residents from village tracts within the Kyetpaungdaik area to participate in these mock voting demonstrations.
The Kyetpaungdaik area comprises eight village tracts, where administrative officials are leading the forced recruitment of civilians for this exercise. Notably, the military council has specifically exempted villages known to be USDP strongholds from this mandatory participation, instead targeting other village tracts. The mock voting demonstration is being conducted at the Pawtawmu Monastery in Kyetpaung village, overseen by staff from the township’s illegal election commission office.
The military council plans to hold Phase 1 of its illegal election in 102 townships, including Pathein Township, on December 28. Local residents have expressed their complete rejection of the military council’s illegal election, stating that the forced participation in mock voting demonstrations constitutes a violation of people’s rights. They emphasize that this compulsory demonstration is yet another example of the military council’s ongoing oppression of civilians and their fundamental rights to free political expression.
