War-torn Burma Votes in Broadly Condemned 'Sham' Election.
The nation is holding an election in a electoral process widely dismissed as a farce, with key opposition groups dissolved, many of their leaders jailed and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an ongoing civil war.
A Staggered Vote Amid War
The ruling junta is holding a phased ballot nearly five years after it seized power in a coup, which ignited massive protests and escalated into a devastating conflict.
Analysts note the junta, 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 exercise of the rights of free speech, association or peaceful assembly," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk stated.
More than 200 people have been prosecuted for disrupting or criticising the election under a new law which carries harsh penalties, including the death penalty.
Film director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals found guilty under the law, which was enacted in July. They were each given a prison sentence of seven years after criticising a promotional video promoting the elections.
Logistical Nightmare and Pressure
Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a statement, adding that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats asking people to shun the polls.
The military has been engaged on several fronts, against both pro-democracy fighters who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations 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 relentless airstrikes enabled by support from China and Russia.
All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under opposition control presents a massive logistical challenge for conducting an election.
A Restricted Poll
The ballot is set to take place in three phases over the next month in 274 of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the remainder deemed too unstable. Outcomes are expected around the end of 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 go to the polls, making it challenging to forecast a possible turnout.
A handful of parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while another 51 parties and independent candidates will contest only at the state or regional levels.
Some 40 parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which scored landslide victories in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's senior figures have been jailed under charges widely condemned as politically motivated, while the rest are in hiding abroad.
Criticism and Rejection
"Through dividing the vote into stages, the authorities can change their approach if the outcomes in the initial round 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 called for political dialogue to come before any election.
The Myanmar regime has rejected condemnation of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "return [the country] to a democracy with multiple parties".
"The election is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the citizens of this country. It is not being held for the international community," a military representative stated at a news conference last week.
Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are rejecting "progress toward democracy".