The UN is raising urgent concerns as Myanmar’s military authorities press ahead with elections set for Dec 28—an event officials say is unfolding under a cloud of fear, violence and the silencing of whole communities. Jeremy Laurence, spokesperson for the UN human rights office (OHCHR), described a country where the ballot box no longer represents a choice but a command. With major political parties banned and more than 30,000 people—including elected officials—still imprisoned since the 2021 coup, the vote is widely seen as a performance rather than a path back to democracy.
For ordinary people, the election does not promise stability. Instead, it threatens to make everyday life even more dangerous. Laurence stressed that what Myanmar truly needs is not hurried polling stations, but peace, safety and access to humanitarian aid—needs overshadowed by the military’s drive to project legitimacy.
Repression behind the rhetoric
Speaking from Bangkok, James Rodehaver, who leads OHCHR’s Myanmar team, described a country squeezed between two forms of pressure: the military pushing civilians to vote and armed opposition groups urging them not to. Many people feel trapped—afraid of retaliation, no matter what they choose.
The junta’s claim that it has pardoned 4,000 political prisoners has brought little comfort. Only a fraction of those people—about 550—have actually walked out of detention. Some who were released were reportedly rearrested soon after. Meanwhile, the military is detaining more people under newly created “election protection rules.”
The repression is not abstract—it has faces and names. Three young people were sentenced to 49 years in prison for nothing more than hanging posters showing a bullet-shot ballot box. And as the military rolls out an electronic-only voting system, paired with sweeping surveillance powered by artificial intelligence and biometric tracking, many fear the ballot will no longer be secret—or safe.
At the same time, humanitarian needs are growing. Civilians are being pushed back into unsafe villages just to cast votes, even as the military continues blocking aid from reaching conflict-hit areas. About 23,000 people remain in detention despite having committed no recognisable crime. Yet the junta insists the country is stabilising—an assertion flatly contradicted by the UN Secretary-General, who has warned that elections like these could deepen exclusion and instability.
A charade exposed: Calls for global rejection
The UN’s independent expert on Myanmar, Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews, has delivered a blunt message to the world: do not legitimise this election. In his October 2025 report to the General Assembly, Andrews described the planned vote as a “charade” and urged governments to reject it outright.
According to Andrews, the military’s recent tweaks to institutions are simply cosmetic. The real structure of power—firmly in the hands of generals—remains untouched. Key opposition leaders, including Aung San Suu Kyi, continue to languish in prison. At least 40 political parties, including the National League for Democracy, have been dissolved. Harsh new laws criminalise dissent and clamp down on online expression, while large regions of the country lie outside the military’s control, making a credible nationwide election impossible.
“Elections on the junta’s terms will only deepen division and fuel further violence,” Andrews warned. He added that while the people of Myanmar are likely to reject the results entirely, the military’s real aim is to persuade foreign governments to accept its narrative.
