While Myanmar’s military regime busies itself with hosting peace talks and preparations for elections slated for the end of this year, many across the country remain deeply distrustful—believing that neither genuine peace nor a free and fair election is possible under the junta’s rule.
The junta’s latest “Peace Forum” concluded in Naypyitaw on June 27. The three-day event was attended by political parties that have registered for the junta’s poll; selected ethnic representatives; invited diplomats and international guests from countries including China, India, Thailand and Russia; army officers; and representatives of local and international NGOs.
Notably absent were representatives of the resistance forces and ethnic armed organizations that have been fighting the regime. Behind closed doors, junta officials and attendees discussed peace, federalism and challenges around the regime’s planned election.
“The junta says they are going to bring peace. But is it okay to leave out ethnic [armed groups fighting the junta]? I don’t think so,” said an internally displaced person (IDP) in her 40s from Karen State.
She believed genuine peace was a long way off, given the continued armed conflict and the tensions on both sides. She had to flee her home due to fighting that erupted after the 2021 coup, and is now living in an IDP camp in the border town of Myawaddy, Karen State.
Even as the peace forum was taking place, the regime continued military offensives and airstrikes across the country, particularly targeting towns controlled by the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) including the ruby hub Mogoke, as well as Kyaukme and Nawnghkio in northern Shan State. It also attacked areas controlled by other resistance groups.
While hosting the peace forum, the junta accelerated its preparations for the election that it has announced will be held in December 2025 or January 2026. Its preparations have included amending the Union Election Commission Law to allow government staff to chair all election bodies.
“The people don’t accept their election,” said a former teacher from Sagaing Region who left his job to join the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) following the 2021 military coup.
He said he believed the election organized by the junta would be fraudulent and likely limited to selected cities under the regime’s control.
The military regime now controls only 107 of Myanmar’s 330 townships—just 32 percent—according to a report by the civilian National Unity Government (NUG).
The junta’s election body, however, said voting will be held in 267 townships, assuming security can be guaranteed.
The CDM teacher expected that the junta’s proxy party will win the election, allowing it to form a purportedly “legitimate” government and prolong its rule.
Of the 77 parties registered with the junta’s election body, 54 have been approved to contest the poll. The military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party and eight others will contest nationwide, with the remaining 45 others taking part in local elections.
The country’s most popular party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), was dissolved by the junta, and its leaders, including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, have been jailed. The election has been condemned as a sham by UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews, Western governments, the NUG, and pro-democracy parties. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) told the junta an election should not be its priority amid the ongoing civil war.
“It could be the last option for the junta… No matter what, the result can’t be trusted,” said a young man who fled to Thailand to dodge the junta’s mandatory military conscription.
He said he suspected that if he boycotts the vote, the junta will count his vote fraudulently, so if he gets the chance to vote in Thailand, he will mark his ballot with an X in protest.
A female factory worker from Yangon said that since the election will not be free or fair, she would not vote.
She added that the junta, which staged the 2021 coup and has subsequently waged a brutal crackdown on its own people, could not be trusted to facilitate a peace process.
“If we want peace, we need to fight for it. Peace will not be brought by the junta,” she added.
According to a June 27 report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Myanmar, an estimated 3.5 million people remain internally displaced across the country due to armed conflicts.
As of July 4, since the 2021 coup at least 6,863 people who opposed the junta have been killed and 29,367 detained, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
The military regime is also working on a special law to shield the planned election from possible disruptions.
The aim of the law is to suppress people with different perspectives, people who don’t want to vote, and those who oppose the junta’s election, a civilian former election observer said.
Even as the junta prepares for an uncertain election, people from most parts of the country including Sagaing, Magwe and Tanintharyi oppose the vote, calling it a sham.
“I can’t go back home until there is peace,” the displaced woman in Karen State said.
