1/9/26, 3:02 PM ‘We are always living in fear’: inside Myanmar’s ‘sham’ election | Myanmar | The Guardian But almost five years on from the military seized power in a coup, ousting and imprisoning then de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, life for local people feels anything but stable. Myanmar’s military rulers are in the process of holding the first elections since before the coup, a vote that the junta has touted as a return to democracy and stability. The UN and western governments have called the process, which will be held in three phases ending on 25 January, a sham. “We are always living in fear,” says a commuter, stopping briefly to speak. “[Before the coup] we had such hope for the future. We were not at all afraid of our government. Now all that has changed,” she says. “We cannot speak our voices to others freely,” she adds. Like everyone interviewed on the streets of Yangon, she didn’t want to give her name, or speak for long. Two women pictured at Shwedagon Pagoda in Yangon. Photograph: Lauren DeCicca/Getty Images After the coup on 1 February 2021, these streets were packed with protesters demanding the return of democracy. Hundreds of thousands rallied across the country – until the military crushed protests with deadly force. More than 400 people were killed in the streets by the end of March. Tens of thousands have been arrested since. Many fled to rural areas to form a patchwork of groups that make up an anti-junta resistance, at times fighting https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/02/inside-myanmar-sham-election 2/7