Protest planned in US ahead of regime elections in Myanmar; Fighting over control of air base in Magway Region

Protest planned in US ahead of regime elections in Myanmar

Members of the diaspora, including Burmese-Americans, living in the U.S. told DVB that they held a “global meeting” online on Saturday to plan a large protest against the regime’s “sham elections” to be held in Washington D.C. on Nov. 22. Organizers stated that the protest aims to inform the international community about the wide opposition to the regime elections scheduled to begin on Dec. 28.

“The meeting was attended by Myanmar activists from around the world, including those inside the country. We discussed how to coordinate the demonstrations across different nations,” Ko Ko Lay, a Burmese-American living in the U.S., told DVB. Khin Thiri Nandar Soe,

a resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, told DVB that the protest aims to give voice to the people in Burma who have been silenced since 2021.

The regime, which seized power in Naypyidaw during the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021, has invited the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to send election observers.

ASEAN will discuss this request during its summit Oct. 26-28, according to Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Twenty anti-regime groups, including the National Unity Government (NUG), have rejected elections under the regime.