Myanmar Interior Minister Tun Naung has claimed that the latest wave of charges against hundreds of citizens is a response to the need to stop alleged discrediting tactics ahead of elections scheduled for December in order to ensure public safety and the integrity of the electoral process. The New Light of Myanmar’s main story said the military junta had filed charges under the new election protection law against 229 people accused of trying to sabotage national and local elections scheduled for the final week of the year.
According to a publication by The New Light of Myanmar, authorities have formally charged these citizens after accusing them of obstructing or destabilizing the election call, in a situation marked by increased repression and increasing political uncertainty. The measures are based on regulations promoted by the junta after the February 2021 coup and justify the need to counter initiatives that could hinder citizen participation or have a negative impact on the perception of the democratic process.
New Light of Myanmar media explained that according to the Burmese Union Election Commission, the vote will be held in phases and will include the election of both national lawmakers and local authorities. The official history highlights the call as progress toward the country’s democratic restoration and institutional restoration.
Opposition groups and civil society representatives have expressed their opposition to the process, arguing that there are no basic conditions for equal competition between the different political forces, according to The New Light of Myanmar. Critics claim that holding the elections is aimed at ensuring the military elite that heads the junta remain in power, limiting real options for change or opposition participation and entrenching the current model of control.
The formal allegations are supported by the recent electoral law, which, according to the same media, introduces new crimes and strengthens the prerogatives of the authorities. Human rights organizations cited by The New Light of Myanmar warn that these legal tools are being used to intimidate dissenting voices and hinder public debate about the election and its legitimacy. The types of behavior that are being pursued include organizing calls for boycotts, distributing denunciatory pamphlets or formulating criticism of the ruling regime and the basis of the election call.
The New Light of Myanmar reported that several people involved in protest activities or disseminating critical material faced threats, arrests and legal proceedings. Activists and researchers point out to the media that there is an inhibiting effect on the population and a gradual decline in spaces for free expression and social participation.
In official statements, the military junta argues that the legal-criminal response is aimed at protecting order and suppressing campaigns that it interprets as risks to stability due to internal violence and ongoing clashes between security forces and opposition groups. For their part, opposition spokesmen quoted by The New Light of Myanmar denounce that the real aim is to neutralize criticism and expand repression against those who question the rules imposed after the 2021 democratic collapse.
According to monitoring conducted by The New Light of Myanmar, the junta’s strategy includes both increasing arrests and expanding trials of relevant activists or dissidents. National and international organizations have documented tightening legal restrictions and continued use of violence since the beginning of this cycle, entrenching patterns of political persecution and criminalization of protests.
The electoral climate continues to be characterized by mistrust in large parts of Burmese society and the international community. The New Light of Myanmar has collected testimonies that highlight the lack of minimum conditions to ensure political competition and representation in a scenario in which military power controls the institutional levers. The skepticism extends to the possibilities of elections leading to democratic opening, given legal restrictions and the ongoing restrictive environment for citizen participation and public debate.
In this context, the current electoral situation in Burma reflects the intensification of police and judicial measures against civil society and the consolidation of a model of suppressing protests and crushing the opposition, as The New Light of Myanmar documents in its reporting. Human rights organizations continue to monitor the process and pay attention to possible changes in the strategy of the body or modifications to the framework of democratic guarantees in a phase before the holding of the elections, the credibility of which remains despite strong local and international controversies.
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