On January 23, 2023, Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing met with junta – appointed Union Election Commission Naypyidaw, he said that there are plans to amend political Parties Registration law.
At the meeting, Min Aung Hlaing stated that “there are many political parties in the country, they are weak in representing the people, but he did not clarify which section of the law be amended. The election will hold on the day election day without threats and coercion.’’
“The National Unity Government (NUG), and other anti-coup resistance groups, have urged the public to boycott the junta’s planned election. There have been multiple reports of resistance fighters attacking officials collecting census data for voter lists.
The majority of Myanmar are against the election including the numerous the ethnic armed organizations like The Kachin Independence Army, Karen National Union, Karenni National Progressive Party, Palaung State liberation Front. and the Taang National Liberation Army have rejected the so-called election. They are active in Kachin, Karen, Mon, Kayah, and Shan states.
The National League for Democracy (NLD) said that it doesn’t recognize the electoral body of the junta, which seized power unfairly. From a Rohingya perspective, Rohingya people were not able to participate in the last elections and there is no reason to doubt any further changes to that policy. The United States of America urged the international community to reject the election and saying they would be neither free nor fair.
Holding new elections is one of the points in the junta’s five-point road map. But, anti-junta protesters in Myanmar and most international observers have said that any elections organized by the junta will be neither free nor fair and will be nothing but a sham designed to improve the junta’s international standing by giving it a veneer of legitimacy.
