The National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC) and Ta’ang Land Council (TLC) on Friday issued statements denouncing the junta’s election as a sham.
Myanmar junta-appointed election commission recently announced that the elections will be conducted in phases, with the first scheduled for December 28 in 102 townships.
The NUCC represents hundreds of anti-junta groups, including the civilian National Unity Government’s parliamentary wing, the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, several ethnic armed organizations, political parties and civil society groups.
It said the regime is responsible for killing the people of Myanmar and committing genocide.
The regime is a terrorist group that staged a coup by violating its own 2008 Constitution, the NUCC said.
Therefore, the regime has no authority to hold an election and its attempt to conduct an election is merely to evade the crimes it committed, to protect its interests, and to maintain power, which will only lead to deeper conflicts, the coalition said.
“The election held by the junta is deemed completely illegitimate and fraudulent, and we strongly oppose and reject it,” the NUCC said in its statement.
The TLC, the highest political authority in Ta’ang state, which was formed by the Ta’ang Political Consultative Committee consisting of the Ta’ang National Party, Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and Ta’ang civil society organizations, said it opposed the election.
It said the election aimed to prolong the military dictatorship and to maintain its grip on power.
The political group urged people and the international community to object to the junta’s sham election.
“The terrorist military is committing war crimes, crimes against humanity, and mass killings of people, not only in Ta’ang state but across the country daily. We strongly urge the international community, including the UN, to take immediate and effective action to stop the regime from committing these crimes,” the TLC said.
The regime is bombarding TNLA-held towns and villages in northern Shan State and Mandalay Region after the armed group refused to return the liberated towns to the regime at China-brokered peace talks in late April.
Many people in TNLA territory have been killed by the regime’s airstrikes and artillery shelling.
Recently, the International Trade Union Confederation denounced the election as a cosmetic trick to rebrand a brutal regime as a legitimate civilian government.
It said the regime banned independent trade unions and civil society organizations, amended the political party registration law to suppress opposition parties, and criminalized criticism of the electoral process with prison sentences of up to 10 years, while imprisoning democratic leaders including trade unionists.
Election watchdogs including the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance, Asian Network for Free Elections and Club de Madrid in February issued a joint statement rejecting the election and urging the international community to deny it support.
They said a genuine election in Myanmar is impossible in the current circumstances where opposition parties remain banned, political leaders and democracy activists are imprisoned, and a free press is suppressed.
Several anti-regime groups have publicly rejected the election and warned that they would target junta-appointed administrators and government staff who support the process.
