We, the undersigned, strongly oppose and reject the upcoming sham election by the genocidal Myanmar junta.

We, the people of Myanmar and concerned global citizens, urgently call on the international community to denounce and reject the upcoming sham election, with the first phase scheduled for December 28, 2025, and the second and third phases in January 2026.

This process is a cynical and dangerous strategy, carried out under the cover of widespread violence, restrictive laws, and intense repression. It is designed not to reflect the will of the people but to manipulate it using misleading Myanmar Electronic Voting Machines (MEVM), lacking transparency or independent oversight, and relying on military proxies and handpicked political parties. The questionable integrity of advance voting and the criminalisation of voter complaints create the perfect setup for cheating, manipulation, corruption, and fraud.

On September 3, ward administrators in parts of the Yangon Region forced households to attend a trial vote, threatening to withhold household registration from those who refused. Separately, during voting machine training, the junta threatened teachers who are required to staff the polls not to share any training information with the public

The military junta, which seized power in an illegal attempted coup, possesses neither constitutional nor democratic legitimacy to call elections. The true mandate of the people remains with the lawmakers duly elected in the 2020 general election. The junta’s so-called Union Election Commission is not an independent body, but rather a direct organ of the genocidal Myanmar junta, which has illegally arrested and killed lawfully appointed election officials. The junta continues to use the law as a weapon to silence dissent and restrict basic freedoms. In such a climate of fear and repression, no election can be considered credible or legitimate.

For any election to be considered, the military junta must first step down, hostilities must cease across the country, and all political prisoners, now numbering over 29,800 must be released, including State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint and all duly elected Members of Parliament from 2020, pro-democracy leaders, activists, and civilians.

On 29 July, Myanmar military junta introduced the so-called election protection law. It imposes harsh penalties ranging from 3–5 years in prison to the death penalty for anyone accused of opposing the sham election, whether during preparations or voting. Since then, more than 120 civilians have been arrested under this law.

The junta’s electoral process favors military-backed parties and, by reserving 25% of all parliamentary seats for the military, ensures its dominance in any resulting parliament. It violates core democratic principles and lacks transparency, safety, and basic freedoms such as assembly, expression, and access to information. Citizens are being unlawfully arrested simply for criticising the sham election.

On 14 September 2025, the junta announced that the sham election will not be held in 121 parliamentary constituencies, spanning 56 townships, most of which are under the control of ethnic resistance organizations or People’s Defense Forces. It means that elections will be held only in select urban centers under military control, systematically excluding vast portions of the population.

In August 2025 alone, at least 235 civilians were killed in 204 junta airstrikes. These airstrikes target schools, religious buildings, health care facilities, civilian homes, and internally displaced person (IDP) camps. The military junta controls less than 30% of Myanmar, trying to hold so-called elections, on the other hand close to 3.6 million people have been displaced, and humanitarian blockades by the junta.

According to Nyan Lynn Thit Analytica, there have been more than 5,900 airstrikes since February 2021, resulting in over 3,400 fatalities, including women and children. The junta continues to carry out daily aerial bombings targeting civilians, homes, schools, hospitals, places of worship, and IDP camps. The Myanmar criminal junta is fueling a humanitarian crisis, with more than 7,300 people killed.

The people of Myanmar reject this sham election and will not accept the fraudulent results because this is not free and fair and legitimate. It is merely a political theatrical twist aimed at replacing the war-crime military junta in order to escape accountability and continue violence against its own people. We stand for genuine democracy and justice. Together, our voices represent the unbreakable will of Myanmar’s people, not the genocidal junta.

Our Call to the International Community

We call on all international governments, ASEAN, the United Nations, and the European Union to publicly denounce and end all current or planned support for this political theatre. We urge them to refrain from providing any technical, logistical, or financial assistance, and to abstain from sending observers to the military junta’s sham election

Actively and closely collaborate with the legitimate democratic representatives of the people of Myanmar: the National Unity Government (NUG), National Unity Consultative Council (NUCC), Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), Ethnic Revolutionary Organizations (EROs), Federal Units, and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to decisively act to support the Myanmar people’s ongoing efforts to establish a genuine federal democracy.

Reject and block all recognition of the junta’s sham election and its fraudulent results.

Respectfully,

The People of Myanmar and Supporters of Democracy Worldwide