Myanmar - August 2023 Election
Myanmar's junta has yet to announce a date for elections. Burma's military overthrew the democratically elected civilian government via a coup d'etat on 01 February 2021, declaring a state of emergency and transferring all executive, legislative, and judicial authorities to the State Administration Council, an authoritarian military-run administrative organization led by armed forces commander in chief Min Aung Hlaing. The military detained key elected civilian leaders and dissolved all national and subnational legislatures, including the Union Parliament, forcing many elected members to flee their homes and offices or face potential arrest.
On 05 February 2021, elected parliamentarians from the National League for Democracy and allied political parties formed the Committee Representing the Union Parliament, which subsequently declared the regime "illegitimate" and the 2008 constitution abolished before proclaiming a "National Unity Government" on April 16.Regime security forces arrested State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint, and other leading members of the civilian government and National League for Democracy on February 1. Nationwide prodemocracy protests following the coup and the Civil Disobedience Movement, continuing as of November, opposed and disrupted efforts by the regime to exert full administrative control over governing institutions. The regime responded with repressive tactics such as the mass arrest of its political opponents and the use of widespread lethal violence against unarmed persons, including men, women, and children. Fighting between the military and ethnic armed organizations escalated, and the National Unity Government announced on April 16 that it would establish armed People's Defense Force groups that would cooperate with various ethnic armed organizations.
After the coup, escalating conflict between the regime and joint EAOs-PDF groups focused on the northwest part of the country, with frequent fighting in Chin State and Sagaing and Magway Region. Conflict was also reported in Kachin, Kayah, and Karen States and in the Mandalay, Bago, and Tanintharyi Regions. Conflict between the military and the Arakan Army (AA) in Rakhine State declined following the coup because of a pre-coup de facto ceasefire. In March the regime removed the Arakan Army from its designated list of terrorist organizations; however, local media reported clashes between the AA and the military on 09 November 2021 after the military entered an AA-controlled area in the border area of Maungdaw Township.
Significant human rights issues included credible reports of: unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings; forced disappearances; torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment and punishment by the regime; gender-based violence by the regime; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention; political prisoners or detainees; politically motivated reprisals against individuals in another country; serious problems with the independence of the judiciary; arbitrary or unlawful interference with privacy; punishment of family members for offenses allegedly committed by an individual; serious abuses in a conflict, including reportedly unlawful or widespread civilian harm, enforced disappearances or abductions, and torture and physical abuses or punishment.
The law does not prohibit arbitrary arrest. Persons held generally did not have the right to appeal the legality of their arrest or detention either administratively or before a court. The law allows authorities to order the detention without charge or trial of anyone they believe was performing or might perform any act that endangers the sovereignty and security of the state or public peace and tranquility. Incommunicado detention was common. Since the coup, the regime detained politicians, election officials, journalists, activists, protesters, and Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) members and refused to confirm their locations in violation of international law. Since the coup, regime security forces have made at least 8,000 arrests and more than 6,500 of those individuals remain in some form of detention.
Unannounced nighttime household checks were common. The military employed invasive dual-use surveillance, hacking, and forensic technologies to monitor and target critics and protesters. Before the coup, the military built an "electronic warfare capability" and bought surveillance technology, including cell phone-hacking tools to monitor prodemocracy activists.
Local news outlet Frontier Myanmar reported that the regime ordered mobile phone companies to install equipment to enable them to monitor calls, text messages, and locations of selected users, flagging each time they use words such as "protest" or "revolution." Mention of these words may trigger heavier surveillance or be used as evidence against those being watched.
Prior to the coup, independent media outlets were active and able to operate despite many official and unofficial restrictions, economic hardship, and an uncertain business environment. After the coup, analysts reported the closure of 71 media outlets, ranging from well-known national, regional, and ethnic media to small Facebook pages. Regime crackdowns on media resulted in the arrest, detention, loss of work, and forced exile of more than 1,000 journalists, editors, and media staff – approximately 50 percent of pre-coup total.
Prior to the coup, the constitution provided citizens a limited ability to choose their government through elections held by secret ballot. The military deposed the democratically elected parliament and dissolved the Union Election Commission (UEC), appointing a former military major general to replace the ousted UEC chairman. On July 26, the military regime UEC announced that it had annulled the results of the November 2020 general elections, which domestic and international observers assessed as largely reflective of the will of the electorate, despite some identified irregularities and local election cancellations in some ethnic areas.
Myanmar's military pledged 30 January 2021 to protect the constitution and act according to law. On 31 January 2021 Myanmar's powerful military detained the country's leader in a late-night raid. Myanmar endured brutal, corrupt military rule and international pariah status from 1962. Military ruler Ne Win seized power in a coup in 1962 and drove Myanmar, then known as Burma, into virtual international isolation. Ne Win was sidelined in 1988 amid nationwide pro-democracy protests that were crushed by the military, which installed a junta. For the ensuing two decades, Myanmar faced tough international sanctions that took a heavy toll on its economy. In 2011 it began a transition to democratic rule. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, 64, has headed the military since 2011, and was under U.S. sanctions for his role in the 2017 military crackdown that drove more than 730,000 Rohingya Muslims into neighboring Bangladesh.
Myanmar's military said 04 February 2021 it will rerun a general election about six months after it lifts a yearlong state of emergency it has declared. Myanmar's state-run TV on Thursday reported the remark by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who took charge of the government following a military coup. The general was seen mentioning the election schedule during his talks with business leaders. The military had justified the coup by alleging fraud in last November's general election. Min Aung Hlaing's remark appears aimed at presenting him as a leader committed to promoting democracy.
Myanmar's military ruler Min Aung Hlaing on 01 August 2021 again promised new multi-party elections and said his government was ready to work with any special envoy named by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). Myanmar's junta chief said Sunday that elections would be held and a state of emergency lifted by August 2023, extending the military's initial timeline given when it deposed Aung San Suu Kyi six months ago. The country has been in turmoil since the army ousted the civilian leader in February, launching a bloody crackdown on dissent that has killed more than 900 people according to a local monitoring group. A resurgent virus wave has also amplified havoc, with many hospitals empty of pro-democracy medical staff, and the World Bank has forecast the economy will contract by up to 18 percent.
On 16 October 2021, the regime UEC announced that upcoming regional elections were cancelled across most of Rakhine State and in various other ethnic areas in Kachin State, Shan State and elsewhere.
The regime used laws against terrorism to arrest and punish groups and individuals who were active in the country's precoup political life. The regime designated the NUG, the Committee Representing the Union Parliament, and PDF groups as unlawful terrorist organizations. According to the law, anyone associated with these groups could face 10 years to life in prison.
Political parties faced narrowing political space amid regime investigations and threats to ban them from competing in elections. Political parties not aligned with the military were denied the rights to assemble and protest peacefully. The military regime, moreover, conducted politically motivated investigations into prodemocracy political parties and their leaders, particularly the NLD. In May the UEC began investigations into the 93 registered political parties, including financial audits. In an August 27 letter, the UEC threatened that if political parties did not submit financial statements, their party registration could be suspended.
The junta will hold "elections" by August 2023, in an effort to legitimize their rule, taking a page out of the playbook written by Thailand's generals in 2019. They have announced the establishment of proportional representation, and the military will still receive 25 percent of parliamentary seats. Districts are being gerrymandered and the military controls the voter lists. The Union Election Commission has been purged of all pro-National League for Democracy figures, and was fully controlled by the military. Over 1,100 NLD officials are imprisoned and many have been tortured to death.
The newly announced election law cripples the political opposition and allows the Union Election Commission to dissolve parties if it was declared unlawful or it has communications with "terrorist" organizations, doesn't have offices or run candidates in 50 percent of the 330 townships; or compete in by elections, isn't registered and has 100,000 listed members, or doesn't deposit 100 million kyat ($43,727) at the military-owned Myanma Economic Bank.
While not everyone in the junta was convinced about the utility of elections, including Soe Win, Min Aung Hlaing believes they are the source of the regime's legitimacy, especially in the eyes of the international community, many of whom will view even shambolic elections as "good enough".
Opponents and analysts say new stricter eligibility requirements, approved in January 2023 by the military that took control of the government in a February 2021 coup, favor military-aligned parties and seek to legitimize the junta through sham polls planned for later this year. “The law on the registration of political parties was illegally enacted by the [junta] and are by no means agreeable,” Bo Bo Oo, a Yangon-based former lawmaker with the deposed National League for Democracy, told RFA Burmese. “I do not want the political parties to register under the junta’s new law,” he said. “I don’t want them to recognize the new registration law as it may assist the legitimacy of the junta.” Absent from the existing group of 19 applicants was the NLD, the party led by Aung San Suu Kyi that won the 2020 elections in a landslide. Suu Kyi and former President Win Myint sit in prison, serving 33 and 12 years respectively. The new law sets higher thresholds for minimum membership and funds, preventing smaller parties from registering. Parties ho
ping to compete in national elections are required to have at least 100,000 members and a war chest of at least 100 million kyats (U.S.$45,000). Those planning to take part in state or regional elections will be required to have at least 1,000 members and 10 million kyats (U.S.$4,500). The new law also requires parties to re-register with the Union Election Commission within 60 days of its passing. Therefore, parties are required to re-register by the end of March at the latest or are considered dissolved.
None of the five political parties that meet the criteria to take part in a general election in Myanmar can mount a challenge to the military’s grip on power. By mid-March 2023 a total of 23 political parties had applied to register for elections expected later this year, but only five met the criteria to take part in the general election on a national level – all of which are led by former military officers or represent ethnic minority groups.
They are the Union Solidarity and Development Party, National Unity Party, Union Democratic Party, Public Contribute Students Democracy Party, and Shan Nationalities Democratic Party. The other 18 will compete locally in their states and regions.
Some opponents of the military are urging a boycott of the elections. They warn that smaller parties that take part will likely lose and only lend credibility to what they say was a sham ballot. Only the USDP, which ran the country as a quasi-civilian government under then-President Thein Sein after an opposition boycott of the 2010 election held by the previous junta, was seen as a legitimate contender in 2023. The party, which serves as the junta’s electoral proxy, challenged the NLD’s election win based on allegations of fraud and assumed Myanmar’s presidency following the 2021 coup.
But other groups, including the Shan and Ethnic Nationalities Party, believe that an election was the only way to reestablish civilian rule in Myanmar. “There will be a civilian government in some form after the election,” said party leader Sai Ai Pao, who also led efforts by a group of political parties to negotiate with the junta during peace talks and in January was awarded an honorary civilian title by junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing. “Since we want to take the path of democracy, the election is a route we must take.”
On 29 JMarch 2023 Myanmar's junta dissolved 40 political partiesin an apparent attempt to prolong its grip on power. This included the National League for Democracy – the party led by Aung San Suu Kyi that won the 2020 elections in a landslide – ahead of elections the regime planned to hold later this year. The NLD did not re-register with the military junta’s Election Commission, which said a total of 40 political parties were dissolved because they did not re-register as political parties within 60 days, according to the new laws and regulations enacted by the military council. Opponents and analysts say new stricter eligibility requirements, approved in January by the military that took control of the government in a February 2021 coup, favor military-aligned parties and seek to legitimize the junta through a sham election.
There are 63 political parties that have registered with the commission. Only the Union Solidarity and Development Party, which ran the country as a quasi-civilian government under then-President Thein Sein after an opposition boycott of the 2010 election held by the previous junta, was seen as a legitimate contender in 2023. The party, which serves as the junta’s electoral proxy, challenged the NLD’s election win in 2010 based on allegations of fraud and assumed Myanmar’s presidency following the 2021 coup. But other groups, including the Shan and Ethnic Nationalities Party, believe that an election was the only way to reestablish civilian rule in Myanmar.
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