Conflict-ravaged Burma Votes in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election.
The nation is holding an election in a electoral process widely dismissed as a farce, with major political parties dissolved, numerous figures jailed and a significant portion of the country unlikely to vote because of an ongoing internal conflict.
A Phased Ballot Amid Conflict
The military government is conducting a staggered election nearly five years after it took control in a takeover, which ignited widespread opposition and spiralled into a devastating conflict.
Analysts note the military regime, with backing from Beijing, is attempting to validate and consolidate its power as it seeks a way out of the devastating stalemate.
"The environment does not allow for the practice of the rights of free speech, assembly or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated.
More than 200 people have been charged for disrupting or opposing the election under a recently enacted legislation which imposes severe punishments, including the possibility of execution.
Director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures found guilty under the law, which was enacted in July. They were each given a prison sentence of seven years after criticising a film endorsing the elections.
Logistical Nightmare and Pressure
Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk said in a comment, pointing out that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats urging people to shun the polls.
The military has been engaged on several fronts, against both pro-democracy fighters who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own forces. It lost control of vast areas of the country in a series of major setbacks, 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 rebel administration presents a huge logistical challenge for conducting an election.
A Limited Vote
The ballot is set to take place in three phases over the coming weeks in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 townships, with the rest deemed too unstable. Results 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 hold elections, making it difficult to predict a likely turnout.
Six parties, including the military-backed 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.
Approximately forty groups, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which scored landslide victories in 2015 and 2020, have been banned. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's key leaders have been imprisoned under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while others are in exile.
International Condemnation
"Through dividing the vote into stages, the junta can adjust tactics if the results in the first phase do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts.
Nations in the West, including the United Kingdom and the EU legislature, have rejected the vote as a pretence, while regional bloc Asean has urged negotiations to precede any election.
The Burmese junta has dismissed condemnation of the polls, insisting that it aims to "restore a democracy with multiple parties".
"The election is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the people of Myanmar. It is not being held for the outside world," a military representative told a briefing last week.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are turning their back on "progress toward democracy".
