A/80/490 27. In July 2025, the junta adopted the Law on the Protection of Multiparty Democratic General Elections from Obstruction, Disruption, and Destruction, which imposes penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment for disrupting elections through public speeches, protests, written materials or threats. By the end of September 2025, the junta had filed charges against at least 64 people under the law. Myanmar’s new Cybersecurity Law, which was passed in January 2025, consolidates many of the most restrictive elements of the junta’s policies concerning digital rights. The law bans usage of virtual private networks (VPNs), creates new crimes relating to online expression, and allows junta authorities to suspend or close digital platforms. These laws, as well as the junta’s amendments to Myanmar’s legal code following the coup, foreclose the possibility of open political discourse in the lead-up to the election. 28. Notwithstanding these concerns, the junta clearly lacks the capacity to pull off a nationwide general election. According to the junta itself, the “census” operation it performed in late 2024 was only “successfully carried out” in 145 of 330 townships. The junta was forced to “estimate” a population of more than 19 million in areas beyond its reach. In the intervening months, the political and security environment has only become less conducive to elections as opposition offensives and junta counter-offensives continue to rage across the country. The junta has already effectively admitted its inability to administer a nationwide general election by announcing that no polls will be held in dozens of townships. 29. Elections held on the junta’s terms will only deepen division and fuel further violence in the country. The National League for Democracy, National Unity Government, ethnic resistance organizations, regional governance bodies and civil society organizations have all condemned the junta’s election plans. Some armed groups have stated that they will prevent polling in areas under their control. Others have threatened violence against individuals and groups involved in administering the election. 30. The people of Myanmar are well aware of the violence, coercion and exclusion that underpin the junta’s election plans and will overwhelming reject the results as illegitimate. However, the junta’s primary audience for this electoral exercise is not the domestic population but foreign governments, which it hopes will overlook the obvious facts on the ground, recognize the “victory” of junta-backed parties, and legitimize a military-controlled government. 31. On the sidelines of an ASEAN summit in July, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister said that ASEAN ministers “advised Myanmar that an election is not a priority for now, the priority is to cease all violence... so that all parties can sit together.” He continued, “There's no point in having a partial election. That will not solve any problems, but instead will worsen conditions.” After the junta lifted the nationwide state of emergency, Japan’s foreign minister said that Japan was “seriously concerned” about the junta’s election plans, which “could only provoke further strong backlash from the people of Myanmar and make a peaceful resolution more difficult.” UN officials and several Member States rejected the junta’s election scheme when addressing the UN General Assembly’s High-Level Conference on Rohingya Muslims and other Minorities in Myanmar in September. 32. Other governments’ positions in relation to the junta’s planned election are more ambiguous. In August, junta leader Min Aung Hlaing met Prime Minister Narendra Modi of India on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit in Tianjin. According to a readout from India’s Ministry of External Affairs, the Prime Minister “expressed the hope that the forthcoming elections in Myanmar will be held in a fair and inclusive manner involving all stakeholders.” It is abundantly clear that the junta has engineered the election to be neither fair nor inclusive. Myanmar state media separately reported that India plans to send “electoral observation teams” to Myanmar. III. Junta compounds suffering from devastating earthquake 33. On 28 March 2025, a massive 7.7 magnitude earthquake struck central Myanmar, with an epicenter 19 kilometers northwest of Mandalay. According to official statistics, approximately 3,700 were killed by the tremor. Tallies by independent media outlets indicated that over 5,000 died. Given the state of armed conflict, displacement and communications disruptions throughout the country, the true number of those killed is likely much higher, and these figures do not include the unknown number of people who have died 6