War-torn Myanmar Goes to the Polls in Broadly Condemned 'Sham' Election.
The nation is holding an election in a vote widely dismissed as a farce, with key opposition groups dissolved, numerous figures jailed and as much as half of the country unlikely to vote because of an ongoing civil war.
A Staggered Vote Amid War
The ruling junta is holding a phased ballot nearly five years after it took control in a coup, which sparked massive protests and spiralled into a devastating conflict.
Analysts note the military regime, with backing from Beijing, is attempting to validate and entrench its power as it seeks a way out of the costly stalemate.
"The environment does not allow for the practice of the rights of free speech, association or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker TĂĽrk said.
Over two hundred people have been charged for interfering with or criticising the polls under a recently enacted legislation which imposes severe punishments, including the possibility of execution.
Film director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals found guilty under the law, which was passed in July. They were each given a prison sentence of seven years after speaking out against a promotional video endorsing the elections.
Logistical Nightmare and Pressure
Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr TĂĽrk noted in a statement, pointing out that resistance forces have made warnings urging people to boycott the polls.
The army has been fighting on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armies which have their own forces. It ceded territory of vast areas of the country in a series of major setbacks, but clawed back territory this year after sustained aerial bombardment made possible through support from China and Russia.
All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under opposition control presents a huge logistical challenge for conducting an election.
A Restricted Poll
The ballot is set to take place in three phases over the next month in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the remainder deemed not secure enough. Outcomes are expected by late January.
There is unlikely to be any voting in as much as one half of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, not all constituencies will hold elections, making it challenging to forecast a likely turnout.
Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while another 51 parties and independent candidates will contest only at the state or regional levels.
Some 40 parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which scored decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's senior figures have been imprisoned under charges widely condemned as politically motivated, while others are in hiding abroad.
International Condemnation
"By splitting the vote into stages, the junta can change their approach if the outcomes in the first phase do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts.
Nations in the West, including the United Kingdom and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a pretence, while regional bloc Asean has called for negotiations to come before any election.
The Burmese junta has rejected criticism of the polls, insisting that it aims to "restore a democracy with multiple parties".
"This vote is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the people of this country. It is not being held for the outside world," a military representative told a news conference last week.
Military leader Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are rejecting "the path to democracy".