Junta Chief Warns Voters Amid Expected Mass Boycott of Myanmar Election

With the junta’s staged election only days away, coup leader Min Aung Hlaing has warned that refusing to vote amounts to rejecting “progress toward democracy.” He delivered the remark on Saturday in Magwe while addressing officers and military families—the only audience still obliged to listen.

His warning comes as the junta’s election commission struggles to drum up support for the December 28 poll amid clear signs the public has no interest in legitimizing military rule.

In a bid to fill the vacuum, junta‑aligned celebrities have been dispatched to recently recaptured towns in northern Shan State—including Kyaukme and Nawnghkio—to sing, dance, and urge residents to vote.