Dark clouds hang over Myanmar as its junta-run elections face global scorn. Analysts and envoys brand the three-phase vote – from December 28 to January 25 – a scripted farce for international cover. The Telegraph details the scene: guns at gates, jingoistic tunes urging ballots, but empty booths in Yangon and beyond.
Even China, eyeing neighborhood peace, deems them unfair. Unlike 2021’s pro-democracy surge that crowned Suu Kyi’s win, today’s apathy stems from post-coup trauma. Half a decade of strife has wrecked economy and lives.
Fear rules: A 32-year-old Yangonite told reporters off-record, ‘Every option terrifies – vote and betray self, skip and face reprisal.’ The regime’s game is turnout at any cost, dodging real fixes.
Former UN special rapporteur Yanghee Lee blasts it as the military’s nadir in electoral fakery, with results locked in to stifle pluralism. No independence, no equity – just perpetuation of power.
As phases conclude, Myanmar’s crisis deepens. These polls mock democracy, demanding international isolation of the junta. True progress lies in supporting the people’s resistance, not rubber-stamping tyranny.