Guest contributor
James Shwe
While the Myanmar military junta desperately attempts to convince the international community that it is planning “free and fair” elections as an exit strategy from the chaos it created, the world is finalizing a very different message.
From Brussels to Wellington, and from Canberra to Bangkok, the international community is uniting to call the junta’s upcoming polls exactly what they are: a fraudulent, psychological operation designed to deceive the world and prolong a reign of terror.
A global chorus of rejection
On November 27, the European Parliament adopted a decisive resolution unequivocally rejecting the junta’s planned elections for late 2025 and early 2026. Their message was absolute: these polls are “illegitimate,” violate every democratic standard, and will only serve to escalate the violence.
This follows the powerful joint statement by the bipartisan leadership of the U.S. Congress. The Republican and Democratic chairs of the House and Senate Foreign Affairs Committees—Rep. Michael McCaul, Rep. Gregory Meeks, Sen. Ben Cardin, and Sen. Jim Risch—condemned the elections as a “sham” designed to “manufacture legitimacy” for a criminal regime.
They are not alone.
- New Zealand’s parliament unanimously passed a motion declaring the polls a “sham process” that cannot be free or fair.
- Australian Senators have called for immediate sanctions and a rejection of this “fraudulent election,” urging Canberra to target the junta’s cybercrime networks instead of normalizing relations.
- ASEAN leadership: Even neighbours like Thailand and Malaysia have broken diplomatic silence. Thailand’s Foreign Minister frankly admitted the elections “will not be free or credible,” while Malaysia, the 2025 ASEAN Chair, faces pressure to lead a regional rejection of this farce.
- International labor and experts: The global labor movement has been equally forceful. Global, regional, and national unions—representing millions of workers—have issued a joint statement calling on ASEAN and the world to reject the “illegal, fraudulent” polls. They are joined by independent election monitoring organizations warning that no credible vote can occur while opposition leaders are jailed, unions are banned, free press is crushed, and civilians are bombed.
The junta’s deception campaign
In the face of this global rejection, the junta is deploying every trick in its playbook of division, deception, and psychological warfare. Their lobbyists in Washington and other capitals are working overtime to plant false narratives—that the country is “stabilizing,” that the junta is a partner against transnational crime, and that Western governments are secretly warming up to their roadmap.
Recently, unverified rumors have circulated suggesting that the U.S. Vice President may have received a junta-aligned delegation. Whether or not such a meeting took place is ultimately irrelevant to U.S. policy. The Vice President does not set foreign policy; that power resides with the President, the Secretary of State, and the U.S. Congress.
The reality is that the U.S. Congress—which controls the laws, sanctions, and funding—has unanimously and bipartisanly condemned the junta. Just yesterday, the chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committees declared the junta’s elections a “sham.”
No photo op or hallway meeting can overturn the weight of U.S. law or the unified stance of the American government against a criminal regime. These rumors are nothing more than a psychological operation designed to demoralize the pro-democracy movement and sow confusion. We must not be distracted by them.
The reality on the ground
The reality is that the junta is losing. They have lost control of vast swathes of territory to resistance forces. They are desperate for a political off-ramp that leaves them in power, and these “elections” are their last card. They hope that by going through the motions of a vote, they can confuse the international community and split the opposition.
But the world is not falling for it. When the U.S. Congress, the European Union, key ASEAN partners, and international bodies all speak with one voice, the message is clear: There is no path to legitimacy through a sham election.
The only way forward for Myanmar is the immediate end to violence, the release of all political prisoners, and a genuine transition to a federal democracy that reflects the will of the people. Until then, the world will continue to stand with the people of Myanmar, not their oppressors.
James Shwe is a Myanmar democracy activist in the U.S. and is a member of the advocacy groups Free Myanmar and the Los Angeles Myanmar Movement. He has been trying to organize and motivate the Myanmar diaspora to advocate for democracy in Myanmar.
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