Myanmar vote a ‘facade’ to entrench military rule, independent rights expert says

An independent human rights expert has urged the international community to reject the electoral process organised by Myanmar’s military government, after the first round of voting revealed widespread coercion, exclusion and violence

Thursday’s statement from Tom Andrews, the U.N. Human Rights Council-appointed Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, reinforces earlier warnings from senior U.N. officials that the polls lack any democratic credibility.

The initial phase of voting on December 28 exposed what he described as a “junta-orchestrated sham” designed to entrench military rule rather than reflect the will of the people.

“By all measures, this is not a free, fair nor legitimate election,” he said. “It is a theatrical performance that has exerted enormous pressure on the people of Myanmar to participate in what has been designed to dupe the international community.”

Andrews – who is not a U.N. staff member and does not speak on behalf of the Secretariat – urged Member States to reject the process, isolate the junta and press its leaders to cancel the remaining two phases of voting.

“The international community should make clear that Myanmar’s future belongs to its people,” Andrews added, “not to those who imprison, silence and terrorise them.”

Myanmar’s military authorities planned the staged voting process nearly five years after they seized power in a February 2021 coup.

Since then, the country has descended into widespread armed conflict pitting the ruling military against numerous ethnic armed groups, triggering mass displacement, economic collapse and deepening humanitarian needs, further compounded by devastating earthquakes in March 2025.

Two further rounds are scheduled for January 11 and 25, although the junta has already ruled out holding polls in at least 65 townships and thousands of wards and village tracts, underscoring its lack of control over large parts of the country.