Myanmar: Int Media Invited to Cover Election

International media will be permitted to enter the war-torn country to cover Myanmar's upcoming junta-run polls, election authorities said earlier this week.

The other has been met with extreme skepticism in some newsrooms, with many organisations dismissing it as an empty offer.

Reporters Without Border said the junta had "shattered the media landscape" with censorship and intimidation since staging a 2021 coup that sparked an on-going civil war.

Local journalists bore the brunt of the initial military crackdown while foreign media exited the country almost immediately. Other foreign journalists were forcibly removed, or denied the relevant press credentials required to do their job.

AFP is currently the only international news agency maintaining a full bureau in Myanmar.

The junta has announced that the polls will be starting on December 28th, however the vote will be blocked from rebel held areas, and most international observers regard the election as a facade to entrench military rule rather than the re-birth of Myanmar's democracy.

The country's Union Election Commission said in a statement that "both local and international news media will be allowed to cover the election", which will progress in stages over a number of weeks.

The junta-run information ministry "will scrutinise and endorse eligible international media organizations", said the notice in the state newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar.

It remains unclear as to what exactly that scrutiny will entail, and which outlets will be approved for access during the campaign and voting period. added.

Myanmar ranked third among the world's leading jailers of journalists in 2024, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, and rights groups suggest the election cannot be in any way legitimate with democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi remaining in detention.

Protesting against the poll has been made punishable by up to a decade in prison, and ASEAN has reportedly confirmed they will not send official observers for the polls, although individual member countries may choose to ignore that.

ASEAN's recent 47th Summit in KL also resulted in a largely unreported rebuke to the Myanmar junta, with a small clause in a document entitled the " ASEAN Leaders’ Review and Decision on the Implementation of the Five-Point Consensus,".

In paragraph 26 of the document, the ASEAN leaders "emphasise that the cessation of violence and inclusive political dialogue must precede elections".

ASEAN has now given the international community a clear perspective on its policy and a reason to ignore the junta's sham electoral process.

Meanwhile in Myanmar, the stage is being set for an uncontested election "victory" for the military's proxy, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, as well as the junta-aligned Peoples Pioneer Party.

At this stage it seems unlikely there will be many representatives of the international on hand to witness the orchestrated spectacle.

Asia Media Centre