Amid pervasive scepticism, Myanmar’s regime leader again pledges free and fair election

By Admin 16 Oct 2023

DMG Newsroom
16 October 2023, Naypyidaw
 
Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing on Sunday again sought to assure the Myanmar people that his military government will organise a free and fair election that reflects the genuine will of voters.
 
The regime held three rounds of talks with 10 signatories to the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) from May 2022 to February of this year, and reached common agreements for holding a multi-party democratic election, said the regime leader.
 
“Our government will definitely continue to move forward to a genuine multi-party democracy system, which is the will of the government. To do so, we are making necessary preparations to hold a free and fair multi-party democracy general election,” Min Aung Hlaing said Sunday at an event to mark the eighth anniversary of the NCA in Naypyitaw.
 
Min Aung Hlaing did not, however, mention a date for the proposed election. He said the election would be held only after conducting a nationwide census in 2024.
 
Political analyst U Than Soe Naing said the election proposed by the junta is unlikely.
 
“He has been repeatedly talking about [holding an election]. The regime is saying so only to ease pressures as it is faced with a political and economic crisis. Given the current situation in Myanmar, it is totally impossible to hold an election. An election can’t happen while people are in trouble,” said U Than Soe Naing.
 
The regime has said it will introduce a proportional representation (PR) system in the planned poll. Politician U Pe Than said the PR system ensures that the Myanmar military retains its grip on power.
 
“In the previous elections, parties that won the majority of votes won. But under PR, the military is already the winner, because it already has 25 percent of seats in the parliament,” said U Pe Than.
 
The junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) is currently vetting the political parties that have registered for the planned poll.
 
Myanmar has been in chaos since the military seized power in a coup from the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government on February 1, 2021.