BANGKOK, Thailand (AFP) — Military-ruled Myanmar’s election starting next month will be neither free nor credible, Thailand’s foreign minister said, calling for the release of detained democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Myanmar’s military ousted the Nobel laureate’s elected government and seized power in a 2021 coup, sparking a civil war.

The junta is trumpeting the vote as an opportunity for reconciliation, but neither Aung San Suu Kyi nor her dissolved National League for Democracy (NLD) will take part.

The election will not be held in the swathes of the country not controlled by the military or its allies, and analysts have dismissed it as a ploy to disguise continuing military rule.

“We want it to be free and credible, but it’s not going to be the case, we know that,” Thailand’s Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow said late Tuesday.

“My feeling is that we won’t be in a position to recognize the elections.”

But he suggested it could be a stepping stone towards reform, saying that general Thein Sein was elected president in an “imperfect” poll in 2010 and went on to release Aung San Suu Kyi, with the NLD winning the next poll.

“Maybe an imperfect election can also be a good opportunity to return the country back to stability and democracy,” he told reporters in Bangkok.

Neighboring Thailand hosts millions of people who have fled the conflict in Myanmar or left the country to seek work outside its moribund economy.

A career diplomat and former ambassador to France, Sihasak urged the Myanmar authorities to free 80-year-old Aung San Suu Kyi on humanitarian grounds.

“It’s time to release her,” he said. “Sometimes we must say things that are the right thing to say.

“She’s been in custody for too long. At her age, we don’t know the condition of her health, and so I hope that they do that the first thing, or immediately.”

The first phase of voting in Myanmar begins on 28 December, with a second slated for 11 January, but subsequent rounds and a result date have not been announced.