Mizzima
The following are the key points of one of four panel discussions held at Thai PBS studio in Chiang Mai, Thailand on 28 December 2026 to mark the first phase of the Myanmar junta-run election.
1st Panel Discussion Key Points
Title: Myanmar Junta’s ‘Sham’ Election
Moderator/Facilitator: Sein Win, Managing Editor, Mizzima Media
Panelists:
The Census at Gunpoint – Decoding the Junta’s 28 December “Sham”
As Phase One of the military junta’s staggered election unfolded on 28 December 2025, the reality on the ground has rendered the term “polling day” an irony. From the empty streets of Yangon to the silent strikes in Chin State, the public’s response was a resounding vote of no confidence. This isn’t just an election; it is a census at gunpoint, designed not to count voices, but to map obedience.
In a landmark Mizzima panel discussion moderated by Sein Win, four key voices from the resistance and labour movements dismantled the junta’s narrative, exposing the three-stage process as a desperate “exit ramp” for a failing regime.
The panel’s foundational argument, led by Sein Win and Bhone Thit, is that an illegal entity cannot conduct a legal act. Since the UN, ASEAN, and the EU still recognize the 2020 mandate represented by Ambassador U Kyaw Moe Tun, the junta’s Union Election Commission (UEC) is essentially a “terrorist-appointed body.” Bhone Thit noted that the junta violated the very 2008 Constitution they claim to defend, making this a “state rebellion” rather than a government process.
Legal and Structural Deception: The “Illegal Sham” Defined
Bhone Thit, an activist and commentator, offered a two-pronged critique of the 2025 election, defining it as an “illegal sham” based on both legal and procedural failures:
- Illegality of Origin: He argues the election is fundamentally illegal because the 2021 coup itself violated the military-written 2008 Constitution. By overthrowing the law, they swore to uphold, the military committed a “state rebellion,” stripping them of any legal authority to organize a vote.
- A “Sham” by Design: The term “sham” refers to the entire setup – from the election formats to the timing. He compares it to a rigged football match where the rules are changed mid-game solely to ensure one side wins.
- Manipulation via the PR System: He points specifically to the introduction of a Proportional Representation (PR) system mixed with other formats. He views this not as a genuine democratic reform, but as a mathematical tool designed to dilute the power of major opposition parties and guarantee a military victory.
Manufacturing a Mandate: The Voter List Fraud
Khaing Thinzar Aye (GSCB/CTUM) provided a staggering data-driven critique. The foundation of any election is a credible census, yet:
- Partial Data: In over 50% of the 330 townships, census collection was either partial or impossible.
- The Overseas Ghost: In 2020, 150,000 overseas voters participated; in 2025, only 5,000 have surfaced – a clear sign of total public rejection abroad.
- Fingerprint Forgery: Reports from industrial zones suggest workers are being forced to provide fingerprints that the military may later “convert” into advance votes to fill the gap of empty polling stations.
The “Soldier Substitute” and Double Voting
Aung Aung exposed the ground-level mechanics of the rigging. He shared accounts of military personnel in Naypyidaw casting “batch votes” for entire family members back in provincial towns:
- Historical Cycle of Broken Promises: The speaker argues that the military is repeating a pattern seen in 1990 and 2010 – holding elections to secure their own interests while consistently ignoring public will and blocking the “federal dreams” of ethnic groups.
- Electoral Fraud and “Batch Voting”: A specific example is cited where a soldier serving in Naypyidaw reportedly cast votes for his entire five-member household in a different town, effectively voting on behalf of family members who were not even on the voter list.
- Double Voting and Systematic Rigging: The speaker claims that military families can “double vote” – once within the military compounds and again at public polling stations – creating a fraudulent “sham” designed solely to prolong military power.
A “Steel Gate” Parliament
Khun Myint Tun (PNFC) placed this sham in a historical cycle of betrayal (1990, 2010, 2015, and 2020). He warned that the 2025 result is already pre-scripted by USDP Chairman U Khin Yi: the result must be one the military likes.
- A History of Broken Accountability: He highlights a repetitive cycle where the military organizes elections (1990, 2010, 2025) or peace processes (2015) only to destroy them the moment the results do not favour their interests. He argues that without “responsibility and accountability,” any political process in Myanmar is doomed to fail.
- The “Steel Gate” Parliament: Khun Myint Tun warns that the upcoming parliament will be a “sham” controlled from both sides – internally by the 25% of active military members and externally by hundreds of USDP candidates who are merely former officers who “took off their uniforms yesterday.”
- Oppression of Allies: He points out that even groups cooperating with the junta, such as the Pa-O National Organization (PNO), are “suffering in silence.” He notes that the PNO has already complained about massive voter list errors, where 13 out of 22 villages in a single area were excluded from the list.
- Rejection of “Makeup and Flowers”: He asserts that the public, especially the new generation of youth, will no longer accept “regime change” that merely applies “makeup” to a dictatorial system. He emphasizes that the only solution the public will accept is a total “system change” toward a new era.
Conclusion: System Change, Not Makeup
The panel concluded that while the junta tries to apply “makeup and flowers” to a dictatorship through this election, the “new generation of youth” and the ethnic organizations are no longer interested in regime change – they are fighting for system change.
Panel Discussion 2 will be published tomorrow.
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