Conflict-ravaged Burma Goes to the Polls in Widely Criticised Political Theater.
The nation is holding an election in a vote broadly rejected as a sham, with major political parties dissolved, many of their leaders jailed and as much as half of the country unlikely to vote because of an continuing internal conflict.
A Staggered Vote Amid Conflict
The ruling junta is holding a staggered election nearly half a decade after it seized power in a coup, which sparked massive protests and escalated into a devastating conflict.
Analysts note the junta, with backing from Beijing, is seeking to legitimise and entrench its power as it seeks a way out of the costly stalemate.
"There are no conditions for the practice of the rights of freedom of expression, association or peaceful protest," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said.
Over two hundred people have been charged for interfering with or criticising the election under a recently enacted legislation which carries severe punishments, including the death penalty.
Film director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures 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.
Immense Challenges and Pressure
Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a statement, adding that resistance forces have made warnings urging people to boycott the polls.
The army has been engaged on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own militias. It ceded territory of large parts of the country in a series of major setbacks, but regained territory this year after sustained aerial bombardment enabled by support from Beijing and Moscow.
All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under rebel administration presents a massive logistical challenge for conducting an election.
A Limited Vote
The ballot is set to take place in three rounds over the coming weeks in 274 of the country's 330 townships, with the remainder deemed too unstable. Results are expected around the end of January.
There is not expected to be any voting in up to fifty percent of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, some districts will hold elections, making it challenging to predict a likely turnout.
Six parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while another 51 parties and independent candidates will contest only at the local levels.
Some 40 parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which scored landslide victories in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's key leaders have been imprisoned under charges widely condemned as politically motivated, while others are in exile.
International Condemnation
"Through dividing the vote into phases, the authorities can change their approach if the results in the initial round do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts.
Nations in the West, including the UK and the EU legislature, have dismissed the vote as a sham, while neighbouring group Asean has urged negotiations to come before any election.
The Myanmar regime has dismissed condemnation of the polls, insisting that it aims to "return [the country] to a democracy with multiple parties".
"The election is being held for our nation. It is being held for the citizens of Myanmar. It is not intended for the outside world," a military representative told a news conference last week.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "progress toward democracy".
