As some boycott Myanmar’s flawed election, others hope for change
Still, some members of the country’s dwindling opposition said they were determined to make their voices heard. Veteran pro-democracy activist Ko Ko Gyi, who is running for a People’s Party seat in Yangon, acknowledged there were problems with the elections but said they were the most pragmatic way forward. “What is the better alternative?” he asked.
“Whether we want it or not, we cannot take the army out of politics.”
Military personnel are on the streets in Yangon. Credit: Getty Images
Like others, Ko Ko Gyi said the vote could result in a parliament with sufficient, if limited, power to shift some power away from the military’s commander-in-chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
Amara Thiha, a nonresident researcher at the Stimson Center, said the elections could bring incremental change to Myanmar.
“Everyone is tired anyway, even the SAC,” he said, referring to the State Administrative Council, the junta’s official name. “Nothing could be worse than this.”
However, other sections of the opposition condemned any participation in Sunday’s vote, arguing that it contributed to the appearance of democracy. Many called it a sham election. Myanmar’s exiled shadow government, the National Unity Government, said that any officials, poll workers or candidates participating in this election were collaborating with an “enemy of the state.” The National League for Democracy, the party of detained Suu Kyi, has repeatedly said it will boycott the elections.
The army’s commander-in-chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, is casting his vote.Credit: access point
Hours before the polls opened, social media images showed an explosion at the USDP office in Myawaddy. According to a local official in Myawaddy, one person was killed and at least a dozen others were injured. A similar incident occurred at a polling station in the city of Mandalay, according to the city’s prime minister.
Whatever the election results, people hope that living conditions in the country of more than 50 million people will soon begin to improve. Myanmar’s economy has shrunk by 9 percent since 2020. The military printed an estimated 30 trillion kyats ($21.3 billion) to finance the war effort, causing inflation to soar to 34 percent. Staple food items such as eggs and cooking oil are now unaffordable for the average family.
The military also launched brutal air strikes against its citizens. More than 3.5 million people were internally displaced. Major cities like Yangon had to get by with just eight hours of power a day. Health experts now say diseases such as malaria could spread across Myanmar’s borders.
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Kyaw Min Htet, 30, who is running for parliament in the Yangon region with the People’s Pioneer Party, whose plan for the country is “reconstruction, rehabilitation and recovery”, said that many of his friends took up arms against the junta after the coup, but all this brought was the targeting of civilians and the destruction of villages and infrastructure.
“I don’t believe armed revolution is the right thing,” he said.
His colleague Htet Htet Soe Oo, 34, joined the party three months ago and is running as a candidate for the lower house. He said he decided to run because working as a party is stronger than working as an individual.
