When they stepped out of the polling stations three years ago on Nov. 8, the first thing most Myanmar voters did was raise their ink-stained pinkies to the photojournalists gathered outside. It became a universal sign by which dutiful citizens could demonstrate their commitment, venturing out to cast their votes in the general election undeterred by the COVID-19 epidemic then surging through the country.
On the day, 27 million voters—more than 70 percent of eligible voters—hit polling stations across the country. From elderly people to first-time voters, they cast their ballots to choose a government they believed would make their lives and country better while cementing Myanmar’s fledgling democracy.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory, coming out ahead of 86 other parties. Myanmar people granted it a mandate to govern the country for a second consecutive term, with the party securing 920 (or 82 percent) of the 1,117 available seats in Parliament.
The military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party won just 71 seats, a bitter disappointment for both the party and the military that would lead them to claim that the election was unfair and should be canceled. Domestic and international observers, however, said the polls were free and fair.
Three months later, in February 2021, the military staged a coup, arresting the country’s elected leaders President U Win Myint and State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and crushing voters’ hopes for a better future.
Outraged, people from all walks of life across the country protested against the takeover and challenged the military to respect their votes, to which the regime responded with bloody crackdowns. The people’s efforts to defend themselves and counter the regime’s attacks have grown into a full-blown, nationwide armed anti-junta resistance that shows no signs of relenting and has prevented the junta from bringing the country under its full control.
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