Guest contributor
Ko Saulsman
As the world prepares for this upcoming holiday season, Myanmar’s military junta led by Senior General, and 2021 coup leader, Min Aung Hlaing is plotting a cynical maneuver to cling to power: an illegal “election” scheduled for December 28.
Timed deliberately during the Christmas holidays to evade global media scrutiny, this sham vote is nothing more than a smokescreen designed to deceive the international community into believing the regime is pursuing a “step by step” path to democracy.
In reality, it is a grotesque parody of free and fair elections, enforced at gunpoint and against the unequivocal will of the Myanmar people.
The junta grip on the country is tenuous at best. Controlling less than 30 percent of Myanmar’s territory and a fraction of its 54 million population, the military has been haemorrhaging ground to ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) and the People’s Defence Forces (PDFs).
Innocent people have died at schools, hospitals and places of worship since their illegal coup on February 1, 2021, which overturned the results of the 2020 general election.
These elections were widely regarded as free and fair by international observers like the U.S.-based Carter Center. In that vote, more than 6,900 candidates from 92 political parties and independents competed for 1,171 seats in the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (Union Parliament).
The National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Aung San Suu Kyi secured a landslide victory, reflecting the people’s overwhelming preference for civilian rule, despite the military’s constitutionally guaranteed 25 percent of parliamentary seats and control over the three key ministries of Home Affairs, Defence, and Border Affairs.
Under the controversial military drafted 2008 constitution, forced through during a previous junta, the military was already entrenched in power. Yet when faced with electoral defeat they fabricated baseless claims of voter fraud to justify their seizure of control.
What followed has been a nightmare of repression and violence. Over 4,000 unarmed protesters have been killed, more than 20,000 political prisoners have been arrested, and numerous opponents have been executed.
Myanmar has descended into one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises with over three million people internally displaced, or homeless, with two thirds of the population lacking access to basic food and medical care. Economic mismanagement and international isolation is now the norm.
Undeterred by these failures, junta leader Min Aung Hlaing now seeks to legitimize his regime through his fraudulent elections. Backed by regional powers like China and India, the junta aims to portray itself as a stabilizing force.
However, their involvement in criminal enterprises tells a different story.
Since the 2021 coup, Myanmar has seen a surge in online scams, drug production, and human trafficking activities that have generated billions in illicit revenue, much of it linked directly to junta leaders.
This criminal empire traces back to the 1990s when military strongman General Khin Nyunt courted Chinese backed ethnic armed insurgents by establishing casinos in the Golden Triangle region bordering Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.
These operations fuelled sex slavery, narcotics manufacturing and human, weapons and drugs trafficking. Factions such as the Karen Border Guard Forces (BGF) had split from the Democratic Karen Benevolent Army (DKBA, which itself had split from the Karen National Union (KNU) due to religious differences.
The BGF and the DKBA have aligned with the military transforming the Myanmar-Thailand border into Southeast Asia’s largest crime hub. Today these crimes have evolved: online scams defraud victims worldwide of billions of dollars, while drug production spirals unchecked.
Despite losing vast territories the junta maintains air superiority deploying fighter jets for daily airstrikes on resistance-controlled areas. These bombings not only terrorize civilians but also clear paths for temporary control allowing the military to orchestrate their “election” process.
What will unfold on December 28? The junta plans a piecemeal vote collection in scattered pockets under their influence. They will bomb remote areas to seize temporary dominance, then coerce locals into voting for regime backed candidates.
Refusal carries dire consequences: under new conscription laws, non-voters risk forced military service. This is not democracy, it’s extortion at gunpoint–one which mocks the very idea of free choice.
The international community must not be fooled. Global condemnation has already mounted with calls to denounce and refuse recognition of this sham.
In July, international trade unions invoked ILO Article 33 urging decisive action against the junta’s labour rights violations and standing in solidarity with Myanmar’s people.
Meanwhile democratic forces comprising PDFs and EAOs battle on with young fighters sacrificing their lives daily. Refugees flood across the Thai border fleeing relentless violence.
In Rakhine State (formerly Arakan), the Rohingya endure compounded atrocities amid clashes between the Arakan Army (AA) and the junta.
The AA seeks to consolidate control, but junta airstrikes render any “safe zones” illusory, preventing the safe return of Rohingya refugees from Bangladesh.
These refugees number over 1.3 million-face intensified hardship following US aid cuts, with repatriation a distant dream.
Myanmar’s daily reality is one of unrelenting conflict: fighting erupts everywhere as a generation of youth have taken up arms against tyranny. The junta’s sham election will not resolve this crisis; it will only prolong the suffering.
It is time for the world to act with resolve. Impose tougher sanctions on the junta’s lifelines, including jet fuel supplies and arms chains. Enforce ILO Article 33 fully supporting the demands of Myanmar’s union movement.
Stand unequivocally with the people of Myanmar, honouring their 2020 mandate for NLD-led civilian rule. Anything less emboldens a regime built on blood and deceit ensuring the cycle of horror continues. The path to peace lies not in rigged ballots but in justice and genuine democracy.
Ko Saulsman is a campaign manager for Myanmar Campaign Network, an Australian national coalition formed following the 2021 coup in Myanmar, comprising human rights groups, international NGOs, Myanmar diaspora organizations, trade unions and faith-based groups.
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