Conflict-ravaged Burma Votes in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election.
The nation is holding an election in a electoral process broadly rejected as a sham, with major political parties banned, many of their leaders jailed and a significant portion of the country unlikely to vote because of an continuing civil war.
A Phased Ballot Amid Conflict
The ruling junta is holding a staggered election nearly half a decade after it seized power in a coup, which ignited widespread opposition and spiralled into a devastating conflict.
Observers say the junta, with China's support, is seeking to legitimise and entrench its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating stalemate.
"There are no conditions for the practice of the freedoms of freedom of expression, association or peaceful protest," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated.
Over two hundred people have been prosecuted for disrupting or opposing the polls under a new law which imposes harsh penalties, including the possibility of execution.
Film director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals convicted under the law, which was enacted in July. They were each given a prison sentence of seven years after criticising a film promoting the elections.
Logistical Nightmare and Coercion
Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk said in a statement, pointing out that resistance forces have made warnings asking people to shun the polls.
The military has been engaged on several fronts, against both armed resistance groups who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own militias. It ceded territory of large parts of the country in a series of major setbacks, but clawed back territory this year after sustained aerial bombardment enabled by support from Beijing and Moscow.
All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under rebel administration presents a huge logistical challenge for conducting an election.
A Restricted Poll
The ballot is set to take place in three phases over the coming weeks in 274 of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the rest deemed too unstable. Outcomes are expected around the end of January.
There is unlikely 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 difficult to predict a likely turnout.
Six parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while another 51 parties and non-aligned contenders will contest only at the state or regional levels.
Some 40 parties, 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 key leaders have been jailed under charges broadly viewed as politically motivated, while others are in exile.
Criticism and Rejection
"By splitting the vote into phases, the junta can adjust tactics if the outcomes in the first phase do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a representative of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts.
Western governments, including the United Kingdom and the EU legislature, have rejected the vote as a sham, 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 multi-party democratic system".
"This vote 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 junta spokesman stated at a briefing 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".