Junta chief repeats promise for fresh election

By Admin 25 Mar 2024

DMG Newsroom
25 March 2024, Sittwe

Myanmar’s military regime still plans to hold a fresh poll in constituencies where it is possible once stability is restored, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing recently told a Russian news agency.

The regime however may not be able to hold a nationwide poll, Min Aung Hlaing admitted during his interview with Russia’s Tass news agency in Yangon on March 18.

“If the state is peaceful and stable, we have a plan to hold the election in relevant areas in line with the law, even if the poll can’t take place nationwide,” Min Aung Hlaing was quoted as saying.

Min Aung Hlaing said he would have accurate voter lists compiled within the year.

“Our ultimate goal is to hold a free and fair election. We will hold the election once the emergency provisions are complete,” the junta boss was quoted as saying.

Myanmar’s military ousted the National League for Democracy (NLD) government in a coup on February 1, 2021, alleging electoral fraud in the 2020 general elections. The regime has repeatedly promised a fresh poll over the past three years, while extending the emergency rule again and again.

An Arakanese politician in Arakan State said: “Regarding the poll, the regime is just talking the talk. It is not likely. The war has intensified across the country. Resistance forces keep seizing towns and outposts. So, the poll won’t be successful.”

The regime has lost dozens of towns and hundreds, if not thousands, of positions in Shan, Arakan, Kayin (Karen) and Kachin states, as well as Sagaing Region, since the late October launch of Operation 1027.