Myanmar junta chief says will hold ‘free and fair’ elections

NAYPYIDAW, Myanmar: Myanmar´s junta said it would hold “free and fair” multiparty elections as it marked Independence Day on Wednesday, days after increasing democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi´s jail term to 33 years.

Swaths of the Southeast Asian country have been engulfed by fighting between junta troops and anti-coup rebels since the military seized power almost two years ago. The junta, which recently wrapped up a series of closed-court trials of Suu Kyi, is preparing for fresh elections later this year that the United States has said would be a “sham”. “Upon accomplishing the provisions of the state of emergency, free and fair elections will be held in line with the 2008 constitution,” junta chief Min Aung Hlaing told troops and supporters in Naypyidaw.

The junta-imposed state of emergency is due to expire at the end of January, after which the constitution states authorities must set in motion plans to hold fresh elections. The junta chief gave no timetable for any election.

Myanmar´s military has made unsubstantiated allegations of massive voter fraud during elections in November 2020, which were won resoundingly by Suu Kyi´s National League for Democracy, as a reason for its coup.

International observers said at the time the polls were largely free and fair. The junta-appointed election commission was meeting with political parties for discussions on “the proportional representation electoral system”, Min Aung Hlaing said, without giving further details.

Analysts say the junta may scrap the first-past-the-post system that saw Suu Kyi´s National League for Democracy win sweeping majorities in 2020 and 2015.

Tanks, missile launchers and armoured cars rolled through the dawn air to a parade ground in the capital Naypyidaw in a military display marking 75 years since Myanmar gained independence from Britain. Civil servants and high school students followed the troops, accompanied by a military band as 750 “peace” doves were released to mark the occasion, according to state media.