The Parliamentary Friends of a Democratic Burma, an Ottawa-based group of Canadian parliamentarians, announced on Monday that it has rejected the Myanmar regime’s 2025-26 “sham” elections, which are scheduled to begin on Dec. 28 and continue into January 2026.
“The military junta’s planned sham election is neither free nor fair, and must not be recognized by Canada or any [other] democratic nation,” Kelly DeRidder, a Conservative Party Member of Parliament for Kitchener Centre in the province of Ontario, said in a statement.
The Canadian parliamentarians statement added that any country accepting the results of the regime elections would betray millions of people in Myanmar and legitimize the military, which seized power in the 2021 coup by ousting the democratically-elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government led by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint.
Both of Myanmar’s leaders have been held in prison since Feb. 1, 2021. Since then over 22,000 other political prisoners have been detained by the regime for opposing military rule.
“Canada must stand firmly with Myanmar’s people and their revolution. Recognizing this sham election is not an option,” the Canadian parliamentarians added in their statement.
A group of 500 Burmese-Canadians, known officially as the Burmese community of Canada, sent a letter to Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney requesting that his government officially state its opposition to the regime elections in Myanmar and expand targeted sanctions against the military.
The Parliamentary Friends of a Democratic Burma was established in 2015 by a group of Canadian parliamentarians to promote democracy, human rights, and peace in Myanmar.
Over the last 10 years, it has called for sanctions against Myanmar’s military and since 2021, it has advocated for Canada’s support to the National Unity Government (NUG), which represents a group of elected lawmakers ousted in the 2021 coup.
The Burmese community of Canada wants the Canadian government to officially recognize the NUG as the legitimate elected representatives of the people of Myanmar.
The Parliamentary Friends of a Democratic Burma call on Ottawa to provide humanitarian assistance and early warning systems to Myanmar, so civilians can be alerted when the Myanmar Air Force is attempting to attack.
At least 1,667 people have been killed in 1,817 regime airstrikes nationwide so far this year, according to DVB data.
Most Western countries, excluding the U.S., and international human rights organizations, including the U.N., have called the regime elections a “sham” intended to legitimize and prolong military rule.
The regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) announced in September that polls are being scheduled in 274 of Myanmar’s total 330 townships.
The elections will not be held in 56 townships nationwide, while voting will only take place in urban areas in an additional 10 townships. Also excluded from voting will be residents in 161 wards and 2,770 village tracts, according to the UEC.
The NUG and the Women’s League of Burma (WLB), an umbrella organization representing Myanmar women’s groups, have called on citizens to boycott and reject the regime elections beginning on Dec. 28.
