‘Not for the people’: Myanmar junta prepares for elections designed to legitimise grip on power
Elections will be first since military seized power in 2021, but analysts say vote is far from a step toward democracyMyanmar is preparing to go to the polls for the first time since its military seized power in a coup in 2021, but with its former leader behind bars, its most successful political...
<p>Elections will be first since military seized power in 2021, but analysts say vote is far from a step toward democracy</p><p>Myanmar is preparing to go to the polls for the first time since its military seized power in a coup in 2021, but with its former leader behind bars, its most successful political party disbanded and roughly a third of the country either disputed or in rebel hands, few believe claims by its military rulers that its 28 December election will be “free and fair”.</p><p>“This is not for the people, this is for themselves,” says Pai, 25, who fled Myanmar after the military seized power. “They [the ruling junta] are looking for a way out of the trap they are [in].”</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/dec/26/myanmar-junta-prepares-elections-legitimise-power">Continue reading...</a>
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