From Ballots to Bullets: Myanmar’s Crisis and Post–Sham Election Outlook

Myanmar’s military will stage whatmany communities inside the country call a “sham election”—marked bycoercion, forced participation, and heavy military operations in contestedareas. While government-controlled media frames the vote as a milestone towardstability, local journalists, activists, and civil society networks report astarkly different reality: intensified pressure on civic actors, expandedmilitary conscription, arrests, and renewed violence across multiple regions.

The panel brings together non-violentstrike leaders and civic organizers from inside Myanmar, joining both inperson and live online from locations within the country, to sharefirsthand accounts of conditions leading up to the vote. Their participationoffers rare visibility into the risks faced by citizens resisting theprocess, the mechanisms of coercion deployed by the junta, and how communitiesare preparing for the post-sham-election landscape.

The discussion will explore urgentquestions defining Myanmar’s democratic resistance in the months ahead:

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●    how grassroots actors sustainresistance under escalating repression

●    how to build coordinationacross diverse regions and movements, and

●    what strategies are emergingfor the post-election environment.

This event doesnot endorse or legitimize the sham electoral process. Instead, it centerson its consequences and the people’s continued struggle to build a genuinefederal democratic future—one defined by consent, not coercion.

In addition to the discussion, theevent will feature a short visual exhibition of cartoons and video workscreated in Myanmar as part of the nationwide anti–sham elections campaign.These works visualize the stories, humor, fear, and defiance of those resistingthe process, offering a rare and powerful window into the emotions drivingnon-violent resistance.

This panel discussion will provide Burmeseto Thai Translation.

Speakers:

Aye Myint Aung Aung -- Head of Department, Department of Humanitarian andEmergency Management Department, Mandalay Interim Governing Council

Bhone Thit -- General Strikes Collaboration Body

Khant Wai Phyo -- Monywa People’s Strike Leading Committee

Hnin Hnin Hmwe -- Joint-General Secretary, Democratic Party for A New Society

Moderator: Thet Swe Win -- Executive Director, Synergy-Social Harmony Organization

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