Women activists said that they think the junta’s elections planned for 2025 will be a sham, unfair and will make things worse for people in Myanmar.
The comments were made during discussions at a meeting of women activists entitled 'The direction of the current political and military steps,' held by the Burmese Women's Union (BWU) on 30 October 2024.
One of the attendees, Ma Nant May Thin Zar, the Executive Director of the Space, an organisation that supports women and children in Rohingya refugee camps, said: “The junta has promised to hold a free and fair election, but I believe it is clinging to outdated tactics. We've seen these same methods used in the past, including during the drafting of the 2008 Constitution.”
Naw Hser Hser, a political initiative and advocacy team leader at the Women's League of Burma (WLB), commented that if the junta holds elections they will not be fair and will fail to bring the peace that people truly hope for.
“It will be a sham election. It won't be fair. It will simply be an election held only due to the junta's coercion,” she said.
During their discussions the women activists noted that the junta will do everything to hold the election, because they see it as a political escape route that will help solve all the military, political, and diplomatic crises it is currently facing.
Mi Kun Chan Non, the chair of the Mon Women's Organisation (MWO), also pointed out that elections are not a solution to the country’s problems and could make the situation even worse.
She said: “We need to say loud and clear that holding such an election could worsen the situation for our country. What our country truly needs is lasting peace. We are working towards establishing a federal democratic union, and that cannot be achieved through the junta-led election. We must firmly assert this truth.”
The junta is planning to hold elections in November 2025 and has already started preparing for them.
The junta met with political parties it had allowed to register for the election on 24 August 2024. It also attempted to carry out a nationwide census in October 2024 ostensibly to gather names so that a register of voters can be compiled.
