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Conflict-ravaged Burma Votes in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election.
Myanmar is going to the polls in a electoral process broadly rejected as a farce, with major political parties banned, numerous figures jailed and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an continuing internal conflict.
A Phased Ballot Amid War
The ruling junta is conducting a staggered election nearly five years after it took control in a takeover, which sparked widespread opposition and escalated into a civil war.
Observers say the junta, with China's support, is seeking to legitimise and consolidate its power as it looks for a way out of the costly stalemate.
"There are no conditions for the practice of the rights of freedom of expression, assembly or peaceful protest," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk said.
Over two hundred people have been prosecuted for disrupting or criticising the polls under a new law which carries severe punishments, including the death penalty.
Film director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals convicted under the law, which was enacted 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 Coercion
Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk said in a statement, adding that resistance forces have made warnings asking 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 armies which have their own militias. It ceded territory of large parts of the country in a string of defeats, but regained territory this year after sustained aerial bombardment enabled by support from Beijing and Moscow.
All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under opposition control presents a massive logistical challenge for holding an election.
A Limited Vote
The ballot is set to take place in three rounds over the next month in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 townships, with the rest deemed not secure enough. Outcomes 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, not all constituencies will go to the polls, making it difficult to forecast a possible turnout.
A handful of parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while another 51 parties and non-aligned contenders will compete only at the local levels.
Some 40 parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which achieved 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 fabricated, while the rest are in exile.
Criticism and Rejection
"Through dividing the vote into phases, the authorities can change their approach if the results in the first phase do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a representative of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts.
Western governments, including the UK and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a pretence, while regional bloc Asean has called for political dialogue to come before any election.
The Burmese junta has dismissed criticism of the polls, insisting that it aims to "restore a multi-party democratic system".
"The election is being held for our nation. It is being held for the people of this country. It is not intended for the international community," a junta spokesman told a news conference last week.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are turning their back on "progress toward democracy".
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