The junta’s desperate gamble for legitimacy ● The junta’s “election” was aimed to appease China and persuade the international community to restore economic and diplomatic relations. ● Instead, it highlighted the junta’s limited control and international rejection of the regime. ● Despite widespread threats, coercion, and disinformation to force people in militarycontrolled areas to vote, the junta got only half the votes cast in the 2020 elections (which the junta overturned through its attempted coup). ● Over 11 million voters boycotted the fraudulent process, while another 10.5 million in resistance areas were excluded. Burma/Myanmar’s military began a coup on 1 Feb 2021 to prevent the convening of parliament by MPs elected during the Nov 2020 election. Since then, the junta has embarked on unprecedented violence against civilians in a war to regain territory from the nationwide resistance and to crush the democracy movement. Five years on from the attempted coup, the regime finally carried out its long-promised “election.” Not surprisingly, this process turned out to be no more than a violent and fraudulent process. Lacking both de jure legitimacy - the regime’s coup d’etat violated its own military-drafted constitution - and de facto legitimacy - the junta controls less than 50% of Burma’s territory, the election was nothing but a ploy intended to restore foreign relations and appease China. The polls were led by junta boss Min Aung Hlaing, who desperately needed to shore up trust and some form of legitimacy. The regime’s allies were frustrated with its daily atrocity crimes, flailing economy, and incompetence. The sham election was promoted as “an exit strategy” – for the international community to feel hopeful for an end to conflict, and for the regime to justify that their crimes would lead to stability and to encourage a return to “business as usual.” This ploy failed. Widespread coercion, dragging residents to the polls, threats of conscription, jail time, and rejection of travel documents, all largely failed to boost the turnout. Burma’s residents defied the illegitimate polls with silent strikes and extensive boycotts, and demanded the international rejection of the regime’s fraudulent, violent, and incompetent “election.” The junta’s extreme violence (1,288 attacks including 308 airstrikes within the 6-week period around voting), malfunctioning voting machines, outright fraud, and arrests of civilians for allegedly “disrupting the election process” compelled international organizations to overwhelmingly condemn the polls. 2