(Staff post from the NHK JAPAN on 30October 2025.)
The UN special rapporteur on human rights in
Myanmar has described the elections the military plans for December as a
'sham,' noting opposition parties are excluded.
In a Wednesday press conference, Tom Andrews said,
"I made it as clear as I possibly could that these elections are a sham.
They're a fraud." He added "you cannot have a free and fair election
when you arrest, detain, imprison, and torture the leaders of the political
opposition."
He also noted that the humanitarian conditions in
the war-torn country are worsening, with nearly 22 million people requiring
aid.
The military says the voting will take place in phases starting December 28. Campaigning kicked off on Tuesday with 57 political parties registered. But pro-democracy groups including the National League for Democracy, or NLD, which won the 2020 election, have been disbanded after refusing to take part in the process.
The junta has acknowledged that the polls cannot
cover the entire country, as fighting between the military and pro-democracy
and ethnic minority forces rages on.
