Myanmar's Sham Election: The Final Gasp of Western-Backed Imperialism in Southeast Asia

The Facts: Military Theater Masks Brutal Reality

Myanmar’s military junta, which seized power in the 2021 coup, is currently staging what international observers universally recognize as sham elections designed solely to provide a veneer of legitimacy to their brutal dictatorship. The generals promise a “return to democracy” through a three-phase vote, but the reality on ground reveals this as nothing more than theatrical propaganda. Only 265 of Myanmar’s 330 townships—those still under military control—will even participate in this farce, while vast swaths of the country remain active war zones.

The military has systematically eliminated opposition through draconian measures: jailing over 22,668 political prisoners, dissolving 40 political parties including Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, and enacting laws that prescribe years in prison for merely criticizing the elections. The junta’s own Union Solidarity and Development Party fields approximately one-fifth of all candidates while state media already proclaims their inevitable victory.

Behind this electoral theater, Myanmar suffers one of the world’s most devastating humanitarian crises. Civil war rages with over 13,700 combat-related deaths in 2025 alone, a 30% increase in air and drone strikes targeting civilian infrastructure including hospitals, and a 26% rise in civilian kidnappings. Nearly one-third of Myanmar’s population depends on humanitarian aid, with UN estimates projecting 16 million people will need life-saving assistance by 2026.

Context: Imperial Legacy and Neo-Colonial Structures

Myanmar’s current crisis cannot be understood outside its colonial history and the persistent neo-colonial structures that have enabled military rule. The 2008 constitution—crafted by the military itself—reserves 25% of parliamentary seats for uniformed officers and keeps key ministries under direct military control. This institutionalized military dominance represents the enduring legacy of British colonial divide-and-rule tactics that privileged certain ethnic groups while marginalizing others.

The international community’s response reveals much about contemporary power dynamics. While Western nations like those in the EU and Britain rightly condemn the sham elections, their historical complicity in arming and supporting Myanmar’s military cannot be overlooked. Meanwhile, China—Myanmar’s most important external backer—has quietly endorsed the election timeline while stressing “stability,” reflecting its pragmatic approach to regional security rather than genuine concern for democratic principles.

Analysis: The People’s Resistance Against Imperial Puppetry

What we witness in Myanmar today is the death rattle of a neo-colonial puppet regime desperately attempting to maintain control through violence and theatrical legitimacy. The military junta represents not an indigenous power structure but the lingering embodiment of imperial domination—a regime that serves foreign interests rather than the will of the Burmese people.

The grassroots resistance movement, comprising People’s Defense Forces and ethnic armed organizations, represents something far more significant than mere opposition to military rule. It embodies the Global South’s collective awakening against centuries of imperial domination. When ordinary citizens take up arms against their oppressors, when ethnic armies reclaim territories held for decades by the central government, when hundreds of thousands refuse to participate in the junta’s electoral theater—we witness the birth of genuine decolonization.

The military’s desperation reveals itself in their escalating brutality. Bombing hospitals, kidnapping civilians, and imprisoning political opponents aren’t signs of strength but symptoms of a regime recognizing its inevitable demise. Their attempt to stage elections under martial law while simultaneously waging war against their own population demonstrates the fundamental contradiction at imperialism’s core: the inability to govern through consent rather than coercion.

International Hypocrisy and Civilizational Sovereignty

The international community’s response to Myanmar’s crisis exposes the hypocrisy inherent in Western conceptions of “international rule of law.” Where were these condemnations when Western nations profited from arming Myanmar’s military? Where is the consistency when nations that invade sovereign countries under false pretenses suddenly become champions of democratic integrity?

Myanmar’s struggle represents a broader civilizational battle against imposed political models. The Westphalian nation-state system—exported globally through colonialism—has proven fundamentally incompatible with many Global South societies that organize themselves along civilizational rather than national lines. Myanmar’s ethnic diversity and historical governance structures cannot be squeezed into the narrow confines of a Western-style nation-state without generating exactly the kind of conflict we witness today.

China’s pragmatic approach, while imperfect, at least acknowledges this civilizational reality. Rather than imposing unrealistic democratic standards crafted in Western capitals, Beijing recognizes that stability must precede political reform—a lesson Western powers might learn if they genuinely sought effective solutions rather than moral posturing.

Conclusion: Toward Authentic Liberation

Myanmar’s sham elections will not end the violence or legitimize the junta. They represent instead the final desperate act of a regime that has lost both moral authority and practical control. The people’s resistance—though suffering immensely—carries historical inevitability on its side.

The path forward requires rejecting both military dictatorship and Western interventionism. Myanmar’s future must be determined by its people through authentic political processes that respect its civilizational complexity rather than imposed models from either East or West. This means supporting grassroots movements while resisting foreign manipulation, acknowledging ethnic diversity while building national unity, and pursuing justice without perpetuating cycles of violence.

As observers committed to Global South liberation, we must recognize Myanmar’s struggle as part of our collective decolonization journey. The junta’s eventual collapse will represent not just a national victory but a triumph for all nations seeking to escape imperial domination and craft their own destinies according to their own civilizational values.