October 10, 2024.
U Kyaw Moe Tun, Myanmar’s permanent representative to the United Nations, has urged the international community to clearly and firmly oppose the military council’s sham elections.
This call was made during the General Debate at the 79th United Nations General Assembly and the Economic and Financial Committee (Second Committee) held at the UN Headquarters in New York on October 7.
The military dictatorship and its illegal seizure of power are the root causes of conflicts, unrest, and suffering in Myanmar, he stated, emphasizing that the military is attempting to hold sham elections under completely unsuitable conditions.
U Kyaw Moe Tun asserted that the military’s upcoming sham elections will not be free and fair and will not allow full participation, but will only exacerbate the suffering of the people.
He continued to stress that the people of Myanmar will not accept the military council’s sham elections and called on the international community to oppose them vigorously and clearly.
Before the coup, Myanmar experienced an average annual GDP growth rate of 6.2%, indicating significant economic development. He noted that the country had established transparent and practical policies for long-term sustainable development aligned with its 2030 development goals.
These policies played a crucial role in the country’s economic development during the civilian government’s tenure, successfully attracting more foreign direct investment.
Moreover, the civilian government had promoted transparent policies to foster a strong democracy, resulting in notable advancements in various sectors. According to a 2018 review by the UN Committee for Development Policy (CDP), Myanmar achieved milestones to graduate from the least developed country status for the first time.
However, many social, economic, and democratic reforms initiated by the civilian government have unfortunately regressed due to the illegal military coup in 2021. Over the past four years of military rule, Myanmar has faced severe economic downturns, humanitarian crises, and challenges such as power outages, shortages of essential goods, and restrictions on trade and foreign currency exchanges, significantly impacting the country’s economic activities.
The World Bank and IMF have projected that Myanmar’s economy will grow by only 1% in 2024. Nearly half of Myanmar’s population lives below the poverty line, with over 3.4 million people homeless and more than 15 million facing food insecurity, while 18.6 million require humanitarian assistance.
Many young people in Myanmar are fleeing to remote areas and neighboring countries to escape the brutal repression and arbitrary arrests by the military. U Kyaw Moe Tun remarked that the people of Myanmar are currently living under the dark cloud of danger.
Additionally, he pointed out that even during natural disasters, the military has continued to obstruct essential humanitarian aid from reaching the people in need, using humanitarian assistance as a weapon to maintain their grip on power.
Peace and stability are critical prerequisites for sustained development, and the only way to fully address the situation in Myanmar is to dismantle the military dictatorship, which is the root cause of suffering, and to establish a federal democratic union that aligns with the people’s aspirations. Therefore, U Kyaw Moe Tun called on the international community to provide robust and clear support to ensure a better and sustainable future for the people of Myanmar.
