War-torn Burma Votes in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election.
Myanmar is going to the polls in a vote widely dismissed as a sham, with key opposition groups banned, numerous figures jailed and a significant portion of the country unlikely to vote because of an continuing civil war.
A Phased Ballot Amid War
The ruling junta is conducting a staggered election nearly five years after it took control in a coup, which sparked massive protests and spiralled into a devastating conflict.
Observers say the military regime, with backing from Beijing, is seeking to legitimise and entrench its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating stalemate.
"The environment does not allow for the exercise of the freedoms of free speech, association or peaceful protest," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk stated.
Over two hundred people have been charged for interfering with or opposing the polls under a recently enacted legislation which imposes 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 prison sentence of seven years after speaking out against a promotional video endorsing the elections.
Logistical Nightmare and Coercion
Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a statement, pointing out that armed rebel groups have made warnings urging people to shun the polls.
The army has been engaged on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own militias. It lost control of vast areas of the country in a series of major setbacks, but regained territory this year after sustained aerial bombardment 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 massive logistical challenge for holding an election.
A Restricted Poll
Voting is set to take place in three phases over the coming weeks in 274 of the country's 330 townships, with the rest deemed not secure enough. 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, not all constituencies will go to the polls, making it difficult 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 compete only at the state or regional levels.
Approximately forty groups, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which scored decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and many of the party's senior figures have been jailed under charges widely condemned as fabricated, while others are in exile.
International Condemnation
"Through dividing the vote into phases, the junta can adjust tactics if the outcomes in the initial round do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts.
Western governments, including the United Kingdom and the EU legislature, have dismissed the vote as a pretence, while regional bloc Asean has urged negotiations to precede any election.
The Burmese junta has rejected condemnation of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "restore a democracy with multiple parties".
"This vote is being held for our nation. It is being held for the people of Myanmar. It is not being held for the international community," a junta spokesman told 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".
