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A Chinese envoy met the head of the Myanmar junta to discuss the aid for an election that the army aims to hold By January, A few days after the head of Myanmar obtained a promise to support the vote of his other main foreign funder, Russia.
The Myanmar leader army was elected by most Western countries because it overthrew an elected government led by Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, but China and Russia have maintained close economic and military ties, and the two promised support for an election that the Junta hoped can strengthen its legitimacy.
The Chinese envoy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deng Xijun and the main general Min Aung Hlaing met in the capital of Myanmar Naycyidaw on Tuesday and discussed the global plan of the junta for the future, which he calls his “five -bridge roadmap”, and the “preparation to hold an election,” said the Junta Ministry of Information in a statement.
China has many economic interests in its southern neighbor, especially Energy pipelines of the Indian Ocean and mines of rare land, and he hopes that an election will help end the civil war which broke out in Myanmar after the army coup in 2021.
The junta also hopes that an election will facilitate international isolation and sanctions and will strengthen its legitimacy by showing a commitment to a democratic process, despite a generalized skepticism as to the equity of a vote under military domination, according to analysts.
On March 7, during a visit to Russia and Belarus, Min Aung Hlaing announced that the elections would take place by next year.
A Myanmar political analyst said that China should provide Myanmar with an electronic voting system and another support for polls, which would be of significant help.
“They can prepare very well,” said the analyst, who refused to be identified as speaking of foreign media.
The China Embassy in Myanmar has not published any information on election aid and has not responded to the RFA information.
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Russia, which recently discussed investment in a deep sea port in southern Myanmar, has also promised aid to Min Aung Hlaing for elections observers, just like the Belarus. India has also promised help, as are some of the neighbors of Asia in Myanmar.
But there are huge doubt About an election in a country where the vote can probably only be organized in less than half of the constituencies due to the armed opposition of the pro-democracy and the insurgents of the ethnic minorities.
The opponents of the junta say that any vote under the army while the most popular politicians are locked up and that their parties are prohibited would be an “imposture”.
Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday that the election plan was “eccentric”.
“The citizens of Myanmar would head towards the polls under a junta who commits many atrocities since the army took power,” said assistant director of the group, Bryony Lau, in a statement.
“The generalized repression, in particular the arbitrary detention of opposition politicians and the dissolution of their political parties, has created a climate of fear which makes elections free and equitable.”
Suu Kyi’s party swept away the last Myanmar elections at the end of 2020, but the soldiers complained of electoral fraud, organized a coup, declared the state of emergency and locked up Suu Kyi and many others.
Min Aung Hlaing declared in a speech to the Bélarus last week that 53 political parties had registered to participate in the elections.
But Suu Kyi’s party was disqualified under army recording rules, as are dozens of parties with alleged political sympathies or ideological links with rebel groups.
Translated by Kiana Duncan. Edited by RFA staff.