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SecondEven the mildest public criticism Burmese military ruler is sentenced to severe imprisonment. But privately, hostility to the military and the elections was widespread and fierce.
Myanmar to hold second phase of election voting on Sunday Nearly five years after the country’s military authorities seized power In the 2021 coup.
The ruling military junta promised Three-phase voting will finally bring political stability to region. But critics have warned of widespread coercion, exclusion and violence during the first phase in late December.
Housewife AyeAye bravely tells independent She has no plans to vote in the election, which is widely considered a hoax.
“This is a sham election designed to perpetuate oppression,” the 54-year-old said. “Everyone knows General Min Aung Hlaing is power-hungry. He has arrested tens of thousands of innocent people.
“Thousands of people were killed. Hundreds of thousands fled their homes. Many houses were burned and hundreds of monasteries, churches and mosques were destroyed. Knowing all this, why should I vote?”
AyeAye said her daughter was jailed for 10 years in 2022 for criticizing the military online. She said her husband lost his job as a real estate agent as inflation increased and their two sons now fled abroad to avoid military service.
“It’s not just my family: all my relatives have also decided not to vote. No one can change our decision. Whatever threats the authorities make, I don’t care,” she said.
“I’m not only worried about my little girl, but I’m worried about our leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. My family, relatives, and friends all respect and love her as our own mother. I cry every night for her and my daughter.
“My only wish is for my daughter [to] To go home again so I could hug her and see Aung San Suu Kyi’s innocent smile again and hear her encouraging voice. “
Aung San Suu Kyi and her elected government were displaced by the 2021 coup. She now faces 27 years in prison on charges of sedition, corruption and electoral fraud, all of which she denies.
The United Nations said this week that voter turnout in the first round of elections on December 28 was reported to be very low, despite intimidation from the junta and widespread fears of reprisals.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy won landslide victories in the 2015 and 2020 elections but did not appear on the ballot after being disbanded by the military junta.
Gee, a 65-year-old barber, said hopes that the 80-year-old former leader would one day return were fading.
“Aung San Suu Kyi is our hero and the ideal leader of our country. She never gives up, never kneels, never bows her head,” they said.
“But now she is 80 years old and increasingly frail, and we are very worried about her health. We still hope she will come back, but our hope is slowly fading. There are rumors she has died in prison. We pray this is not true.”
“This election is a complete sham. Its purpose is to install a fake civilian government, return Myanmar to the United Nations General Assembly, and continue to steal our money and natural resources.”
On Thursday, Tom Andrews, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, urged the international community to unequivocally reject the election results.
“The results of the first round of what Myanmar’s military junta claims are legitimate ‘elections’ are in and they are decisive,” Andrews said.
“This was not a free, fair or legitimate election by any stretch of the imagination. It was a theater show that put enormous pressure on the people of Myanmar to engage in activities designed to deceive the international community,” he said.
“You can’t have free, fair or credible elections when thousands of political prisoners are behind bars, credible opposition parties are dismantled, journalists are silenced and basic freedoms are suppressed.
“The junta has spent nearly five years dismantling the basic foundations of democratic participation and now wants the world to accept an empty imitation of elections.”
Moi, a 48-year-old florist, also has no plans to vote and, like many, has had a bitter experience with the junta.
The widowed mother of five said she hated the army for forcing her eldest son to join the army, where he was killed last year.
“My 28-year-old eldest son is a good boy. He takes care of the family and we depend on him, but early last year the authorities ordered him to join the army.
“We are a poor family and don’t have enough money to bribe him to get out of this situation,” she said.
Her son’s active service salary is equivalent to £68 a month. Within a month, his mother lost contact with him.
“I contacted the Army office multiple times, but they always said the same thing: ‘Don’t worry, your son is fine.'” But then a friend of my son’s who had defected called to tell me he had been killed in combat. My heart was broken and my life fell apart. I never received any pay or compensation, not even an apology. “
“I hate what the Myanmar military is doing. I decided not to support them in any way. That’s why I’m not voting,” she said.
“I don’t understand politics. All I know is that I lost my son over this. I just want him back.”