A sham election offers no end to Myanmar’s suffering (Amy Chew – The Interpreter)

Amid the pomp and pageantry of ASEAN Summit 2025 in Malaysia, hidden from sight are 179,400 Myanmar refugees sheltering in Malaysia, according to UNHCR – with Rohingyas making up more than half the number. The 1 February 2021 military coup staged by junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, which deposed the democratically-elected government and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, has plunged the country into a civil war and left the junta controlling just over half the country. Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), had won more than 82% of the votes during the November 2020 elections, three months before the coup.

A sham election offers no end to Myanmar’s suffering | Lowy Institute