The state media in Myanmar said its military government will conduct a nationwide census in October. This will pave way for a promised election next year, amid raging conflict across the nation.
The data will be collected to compile information on the population and households. It will be done between Oct 1-15. The data will be used to hold a general election next year, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing said on Sunday.
“The census can be used in compilation of correct and accurate voter lists. This is a basic need for successfully holding a free and fair multi-party democratic general election,” Min Aung Hlaing added.
The proposed election has already been widely criticised as a sham. The outcome is unlikely to be recognised by western countries. Dozens of parties are disbanded for not registering to run. This includes the dominant National League for Democracy (NLD), whose government the junta toppled.
The country of 55 million people has been in turmoil since February 2021. The military had ousted the popular administration of Nobel laureate and NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi. It cited fraud in an election it won two months earlier by a landslide.
Suu Kyi and many NLD politicians were arrested. Those who fled said the junta’s allegations of fraud over voter lists were baseless and trumped-up to justify the coup.
LOSS OF CONTROL
The coup sparked widespread protests that were met with a brutal crackdown. It transformed the demonstrations into an armed resistance movement. It has since combined with many established ethnic minority armies to become the most significant challenge to the military in decades.
The military government in July said 27 of the parties that have registered for the election have denounced the rebellion.
The junta does not have effective control of Myanmar, having lost complete authority over townships covering 86% of the country’s territory that houses 67% of the population, the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar said in a May report.
Earlier this year, thousands of young people also fled abroad after the junta’s call for conscription to replenish its weakened forces.
Last month, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi promised technological assistance for the census-taking process for the “all-inclusive election” at a meeting with Min Aung Hlaing, according to junta media.
The parallel National Unity Government (NUG), comprising former lawmakers and other junta opponents, said the international community and neighbouring countries should denounce the election and the census process.
“The junta has the intention to carry out a sham election and using the excuse of a census, they are collecting information from people which they will use to terrorise them,” its spokesperson Kyaw Zaw said.
(with inputs from Reuters)
