Myanmar junta chief says much-maligned regime making efforts to hold dignified election

09 Feb 2023

DMG Newsroom
9 February 2023, Ngapudaw, Ayeyarwady Region

Trying to put a positive frame on a planned election increasingly viewed as uncredible, Myanmar’s military ruler claimed Wednesday that his regime is making efforts to hold a dignified vote later this year.

The coup leader made the remarks during a meeting with district and township-level departmental officials and town elders from Haigyikyun and Ngapudaw townships on February 8.

“We are still having difficulties in holding elections in some regions and states, and will hold a dignified election that is accepted by the public,” said Min Aung Hlaing, the junta-controlled Myanmar Alinn daily reported.

But his words alone likely will not be enough to inject credibility into a vote that many parties are boycotting and many political leaders and activists cannot engage in, having been either killed or imprisoned for their opposition to military rule.

The Arakan League for Democracy (ALD) has announced unequivocally that it will not contest the election to be held by the military regime.

“The ALD has a clear policy and does not accept the sham election to be held by the military regime,” said U Myo Kyaw, general secretary of the ALD. “The ALD will not contest this election and it is considered that this election should not be recognised. The military regime is trying to hold onto power by creating a sham election so that the term of the military dictatorship can be extended.”

Myanmar’s military regime, which spuriously used claims of widespread fraud in the 2020 general election as an excuse to stage its coup, promulgated a new Political Parties Registration Law on January 26.

The new law requires political parties contesting at the Union level to be able to prove a membership of at least 100,000 within 90 days of their registration being approved. They must also open offices in at least 150 of the country’s 330 townships within six months, and deposit K100 million in party funds with a state-owned bank. Political parties contesting at the region or state level, meanwhile, must recruit 10,000 members and staff offices in at least five townships, according to the law.

The new law favours big political parties but while presenting significant hurdles for smaller ethnic parties, say critics.

“Since the next election will not be a free and fair election, I want to say that the government and the parliament will only be puppets to help the military rule the country,” said Veteran politician U Pe Than.

The junta is planning to hold the election in August using a system of proportional representation (PR) instead of the first-past-the-post (FPTP) model used in Myanmar’s previous three general elections held under the 2008 Constitution.

Min Aung Hlaing has said that all people will be able to vote freely in the junta-organised election without threats or coercion.

The military claimed widespread fraud in Myanmar’s 2020 general election was behind its decision to seize power from the democratically elected government on February 1, 2021.

In what critics have called a clear manipulation of the 2008 Constitution, the regime cited the “extraordinary situation” of ongoing fighting across the country as an excuse to renew its emergency rule declaration for a third time on February 1 of this year.