"The vote, which begins on December 28, is being widely viewed as a ploy to legitimise the ruling military government. Campaigning has begun in military-run Myanmar, two months ahead of an election being widely dismissed at home and abroad as a transparent bid to confer legitimacy on the army's 2021 seizure of power. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) held events on Tuesday in the capital Naypyitaw and in Yangon, the country's largest city, to launch its campaign."
"Meanwhile, a number of opposition organisations, including armed resistance groups, have said they will try to derail the elections, calling for boycotts. The campaign began a day after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the election could cause further instability in Myanmar, while diplomatic sources said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) would not send observers, in what would be a further blow to the military government's push for international legitimacy."
Campaigning in military-run Myanmar began two months before voting set to start on December 28, with the military-backed USDP launching events in Naypyitaw and Yangon. Rights groups and the European Commission have dismissed the election as neither free nor fair and have ruled out observers. Voting will be precluded in about one in seven national constituencies, many active war zones, while dozens of opposition parties including the NLD were barred after an army-appointed election commission ordered their disbandment. Opposition organisations and armed resistance groups have called for boycotts or vowed to try to derail the vote. Fifty-seven parties registered but the USDP is expected to dominate.
Read at www.aljazeera.com
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