Myanmar polls reflected people’s will
Says int’l monitoring group in its final report; UNGA to consider call for arms embargo on military junta today; US, UK slap more sanctions
Myanmar's election last year reflected the will of the people and the army was unjustified in using alleged flaws as a reason to seize power, an international monitoring group said yesterday in its final report.
The February 1 coup cut short a decade of tentative democratic reforms and led to the arrest of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose party had swept the Nov. 8 election.
The Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL), one of two accredited foreign election observer missions, said voting was not as free and fair as it had been in the previous ballot in 2015 - in part because of the coronavirus outbreak.
"Nevertheless, it is ANFREL's informed opinion that the results of the 2020 general elections were, by and large, representative of the will of the people of Myanmar," the report said.
"Despite the raging Covid-19 pandemic, 27.5 million people voted thanks to the hard work of polling staff and election or health officials; their voices cannot be silenced."
Reuters was not immediately able to reach a junta spokesman for comment.
The army said it had discovered major violations of the election, in which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy trounced a pro-military party.
It said it took power after the electoral commission dismissed its accusations and will hold new elections within two years.
ANFREL, which said it had election observers in 13 of Myanmar's 14 states and regions, described the military's seizure of power as "indefensible".
The UN General Assembly is set to consider a draft non-binding resolution today calling for "an immediate suspension" of the transfer of weapons to the military junta of Myanmar, a UN official said Sunday.
Unlike Security Council resolutions, General Assembly resolutions are non-binding but carry strong political significance, reports AFP.
Meanwhile, US Treasury slapped sanctions on 16 senior Myanmar officials and family members yesterday, citing their support for the government's "violent and lethal attacks" against the country's pro-democracy movement.
Britain also announced sanctions against state-owned enterprise Myanmar Gems Enterprise (MGE), saying the move would deprive the military junta there of a key source of funding.