War-torn Burma Votes in Broadly Condemned 'Sham' Election.
The nation is holding an election in a electoral process broadly rejected as a sham, with key opposition groups banned, numerous figures jailed and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing civil war.
A Staggered Vote Amid War
The ruling junta is conducting a phased ballot nearly five years after it seized power in a takeover, which ignited massive protests and spiralled into a civil war.
Observers say the military regime, with China's support, is attempting to validate and consolidate its power as it seeks a way out of the costly deadlock.
"There are no conditions for the practice of the freedoms of freedom of expression, assembly or peaceful protest," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker TĂĽrk said.
More than 200 people have been prosecuted for disrupting or criticising the polls under a new law which imposes 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 given a seven-year jail term after criticising a promotional video promoting the elections.
Immense Challenges and Coercion
Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr TĂĽrk said in a comment, adding that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats asking people to boycott the polls.
The army has been engaged on several fronts, against both armed resistance groups who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own forces. It ceded territory of vast areas of the country in a string of defeats, but clawed back 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 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. Results are expected by late 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, not all constituencies will go to the polls, making it difficult to forecast a possible turnout.
Six parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while dozens more parties and non-aligned contenders will contest only at the state or regional levels.
Approximately forty groups, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which scored landslide victories in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and many of the party's key leaders have been jailed under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while others are in exile.
Criticism and Rejection
"Through dividing the vote into stages, the authorities can adjust tactics if the outcomes in the first phase do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a representative of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts.
Nations in the West, including the UK and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a pretence, while neighbouring group Asean has urged political dialogue to precede any election.
The Myanmar regime has rejected condemnation of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "return [the country] to a multi-party democratic system".
"This vote is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the citizens of this country. It is not intended for the international community," a junta spokesman stated at a news conference 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".
