Mawlamyine, November (17)
Some political parties have criticized the election to be held by the military council as an attempt to deceive the international community and get a political escape, and it cannot be more than a sham election.
At a time when fighting between the military council and ethnic armed organizations and PDFs has escalated across the country, the military regime has attempted to hold a mandatory election in order to gain political escape.
The military council is gathering the household population in peaceful areas, compiling voter lists, and designating the locations of polling stations in order to hold elections in 2023.
In this situation, preparing to hold an election by the military council is just an attempt to find a way out by holding a sham election because of the crisis in the political, military and diplomatic sectors, said Daw Hnin Hnin Hmwe, the secretary of the Democratic Party for a New Society.
U Tun Aung Kyaw, the spokesperson of Arakan National Party (ANP), said that since the junta election was held at a time of turmoil in the country, it is questionable whether it will be a free and fair election.
The National League for Democracy (NLD), which won enough votes in the 2020 general election to form a government, declared on November 8 that the results of the military council election would not be recognized.
Although the majority of political parties oppose the junta election, certain parties will nonetheless run in it according to their stance.
Daw Nan Khin Aye Oo, a member of the Karen People’s Party, asserted, “Since our party is founded for the Karen ethnic groups, I think that if the election is held, we will run in it.”
The ruling military regime said that it will hold a free and fair general election in 2023 with a proportional representation (PR) system and hand over power to the winning party.
Political and election observers believe that the military may hold elections in some urban and rural areas it can control to gain legitimacy.
The National Unity Government (NUG) has declared 2023 as the year when the revolution will come to an end and asserted that it will definitely deter the election.
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