War-torn Myanmar Goes to the Polls in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election.
The nation is holding an election in a vote broadly rejected as a sham, with major political parties banned, numerous figures jailed and as much as half of the country unlikely to vote because of an ongoing internal conflict.
A Phased Ballot Amid Conflict
The military government is conducting a phased ballot nearly half a decade after it took control in a coup, which ignited widespread opposition and escalated into a civil war.
Observers say the military regime, with China's support, is seeking to legitimise and consolidate its power as it seeks a way out of the devastating stalemate.
"There are no conditions for the practice of the rights of free speech, assembly or peaceful assembly," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk stated.
More than 200 people have been charged for interfering with or criticising the polls under a new law which carries severe punishments, including the possibility of execution.
Director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures convicted under the law, which was enacted in July. They were each handed a seven-year jail term after speaking out against a promotional video promoting the elections.
Immense Challenges and Coercion
Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, pointing out that resistance forces have made warnings urging people to boycott the polls.
The army has been fighting on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armies which have their own militias. It lost control of large parts of the country in a series of major setbacks, but clawed back territory this year after relentless airstrikes enabled by support from China and Russia.
All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under rebel administration presents a huge operational hurdle for conducting an election.
A Restricted Poll
Voting is set to take place in three rounds over the coming weeks in 274 of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the remainder deemed not secure enough. Outcomes are expected by late 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 challenging to predict a possible turnout.
A handful of parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees 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 banned. Suu Kyi and many of the party's key leaders have been jailed under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while the rest are in exile.
International Condemnation
"By splitting the vote into stages, the junta 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 United Kingdom and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a pretence, while regional bloc Asean has called for negotiations to precede any election.
The Myanmar regime has rejected condemnation of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "restore a multi-party democratic system".
"The election is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the citizens of Myanmar. It is not being held for the outside world," a junta spokesman stated at a news conference last week.
Military leader Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "the path to democracy".