Mizzima/AFP-Sept 30
A report just out raises questions about elections and the democratic process around the world. The annual report by Stockholm-based intergovernmental organization International IDEA says disputed elections have become a global phenomenon, with voter turnout diminishing around the world and the results of elections increasingly questioned. A large number of countries – including the United States and Myanmar – have faced problems as a result of a number of causes, including direct interference in the electoral process and problematic disputes. In the United States, the Republican Party disputed the results of the 2020 election, and in Myanmar the military questioned the results of the 2020 election and used this dispute as an “excuse” to execute a coup in February 2021. Now, the Myanmar military junta claims to be preparing for a new national election – but without the popular National League for Democracy party and its leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in what critics say will be a “sham poll”. Of the 173 countries covered by the IDEA think-tank, nearly half of them also show “a very severe decline in at least one absolutely crucial element of democracy,” such as the ability to hold credible elections or freedom of the press. As for Myanmar, it is caught up in a conundrum. While the majority of its citizens want the junta ousted and call for free-and-fair elections, the Myanmar junta has stifled the democratic process and any poll carried while the junta remains in power will be boycotted by the electorate and not represent the will of the people. When it comes to Myanmar, few can take the junta’s election promise seriously. But down the road, when the junta is eventually ousted from power, careful consideration will need to be given to Myanmar’s electoral process under what proponents say will be a “federal system”. Read more at: https://eng.mizzima.com/2024/09/30/14532
