Conflict-ravaged Myanmar Votes in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election.
Myanmar is going to the polls in a electoral process broadly rejected as a sham, with major political parties banned, many of their leaders imprisoned and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing internal conflict.
A Phased Ballot Amid War
The ruling junta is holding a staggered election nearly five years after it seized power in a takeover, which sparked massive protests and spiralled into a devastating conflict.
Observers say the junta, with China's support, is seeking to legitimise and entrench its power as it seeks a way out of the devastating stalemate.
"There are no conditions for the practice of the freedoms of free speech, assembly or peaceful assembly," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said.
More than 200 people have been charged for interfering with or opposing the election under a recently enacted legislation which imposes harsh penalties, including the possibility of execution.
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 criticising a promotional video endorsing the elections.
Immense Challenges and Pressure
Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, adding that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats urging people to boycott the polls.
The army has been fighting on several fronts, against both pro-democracy fighters who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own militias. It lost control of vast areas of the country in a string of defeats, but regained territory this year following relentless airstrikes enabled by support from China and Russia.
All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under opposition control presents a huge logistical challenge for conducting an election.
A Limited Vote
Voting is set to take place in three rounds over the coming weeks in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 townships, with the remainder deemed not secure enough. Results are expected around the end of January.
There is not expected to be any voting in as much as one half of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, some districts will go to the polls, making it challenging to predict a possible turnout.
Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while another 51 parties and non-aligned contenders will compete only at the state or regional levels.
Some 40 parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which achieved landslide victories in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and many of the party's key leaders have been imprisoned under charges widely condemned as fabricated, while others are in exile.
International Condemnation
"By splitting the vote into stages, the authorities can change their approach if the results in the first phase do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts.
Western governments, including the UK and the European Parliament, have rejected the vote as a pretence, while neighbouring group Asean has urged negotiations to precede any election.
The Burmese junta 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 junta spokesman stated at a briefing last week.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are turning their back on "the path to democracy".
