International election watchdogs have urged the international community to deny any kind of support to the Myanmar junta’s “illegitimate” planned polls.
In a joint statement Thursday, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA), Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL), and Club de Madrid reiterated concerns first raised in a 2023 declaration, which dismissed any junta-led election as an attempt to entrench military rule rather than restore democracy.
The groups said a genuine election in Myanmar is “impossible under current conditions” where opposition parties remain banned, political leaders and democracy activists languish in jail, and a free press is suppressed.
“There is no possibility that an election held under Myanmar’s current conditions will be in line with international standards on democratic elections or commitments for electoral integrity,” the groups said.
China, India, and Russia have long supported the junta’s poll plans. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing and handpicked officials have recently stepped up their advertising of the election plans among friendly regimes.
Last month, Min Aung Hlaing briefed Belarus Foreign Minister Maxim Ryzhenkov on his preparations, while members of the junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) observed Belarus’s own sham polls. The UEC has also observed elections in other authoritarian countries like Russia, Cambodia, and China.
International IDEA, ANFREL, and Club de Madrid said any election held now “will not bring peace or stability to Myanmar. Instead, it will deepen divisions, fuel violence, entrench authoritarian rule and exacerbate the crisis caused by the military coup.”
“We urge the international community to continue to deny the SAC any technical, material or political support for such an illegitimate election,” they added.
The organizations urged states to sanction Myanmar’s military regime and work instead with Myanmar’s democratic coalition to enable future genuine elections in the framework of the Federal Democracy Charter.
The military seized power after making unsubstantiated allegations of fraud in the 2020 elections, which State Councelor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won by a landslide. It later annulled the results, which had been recognized by International IDEA and ANFREL.
