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, numerous figures jailed and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an ongoing civil war.
A Staggered Vote Amid Conflict
The military government is holding a staggered election nearly half a decade after it seized power in a coup, which ignited widespread opposition and spiralled into a civil war.
Observers say the military regime, with backing from Beijing, is seeking to legitimise and consolidate its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating stalemate.
"There are no conditions for the practice of the rights of freedom of expression, assembly or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk said.
More than 200 people have been prosecuted for interfering with or opposing the election under a recently enacted legislation which carries harsh penalties, including the possibility of execution.
Director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures found guilty under the law, which was passed in July. They were each handed a seven-year jail term after criticising a film promoting the elections.
Logistical Nightmare and Pressure
Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, adding that armed rebel groups have made warnings asking people to boycott the polls.
The army has been fighting on multiple battlefields, against both pro-democracy fighters who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armies which have their own forces. It lost control of vast areas of the country in a string of defeats, but clawed back territory this year following relentless airstrikes made possible through support from Beijing and Moscow.
All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under opposition control presents a massive logistical challenge for conducting an election.
A Restricted Poll
Voting is set to take place in three rounds over the next month in 274 of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the remainder deemed too unstable. 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, some districts will hold elections, making it difficult to forecast a possible turnout.
Six parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while another 51 parties and independent candidates will compete 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 broadly viewed as fabricated, while the rest are in exile.
Criticism and Rejection
"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 representative 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 sham, while regional bloc Asean has urged political dialogue to come before any election.
The Burmese junta has rejected condemnation of the polls, insisting that it aims to "return [the country] to a multi-party democratic system".
"This vote is being held for our nation. It is being held for the citizens of Myanmar. It is not being held for the international community," a military representative told a briefing last week.
Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are rejecting "the path to democracy".
