MYANMAR – The 3 major international election monitoring and aid groups have announced that the election to be held by the Junta Council does not meet democratic standards and will not be accepted by the international community.
International Organization for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) and the Club de Madrid (Club de Madrid) announced the above.
During the 4 years of the junta council rule, the violence, that forced displacement and suppression of political freedoms continued, currently, the junta council is committing systematic human rights violations, draconian laws banning opposition political parties, detention of political leaders and democracy activists, strict restrictions on the media, the military council’s voter list and the institutions collecting for the census are not credible and acceptable. These groups say that under the current situation mentioned above, true elections are impossible in Myanmar.
Due to these circumstances, the election to be held by the junta council in Myanmar will not meet the international standards of democratic elections, there is no way to have a dignified election. It has been pointed out that the election of a military council is nothing more than an attempt to legitimize an illegitimate government.
The announcement stated that the need for an open competitive environment that allows the people of Myanmar to freely express their will in true democratic elections and the Myanmar junta council overthrew the democratically elected government and legislature on February 1, 2021. Therefore, the three groups urged the international community not to provide the technology, material or political support for the illegal election of the military council.
Furthermore, they asked to protect the results of the November 2020 election, to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution No. 2669 of 2022 and to help Myanmar return to the path of democracy.
The junta council’s sham election will not bring peace or stability to Myanmar but it will deepen the disagreement and violence. The three groups warned that the crisis caused by the authoritarian regime and the group of military coup would worsen.
