Conflict-ravaged Myanmar Votes in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election.
The nation is holding an election in a vote broadly rejected as a farce, with key opposition groups banned, numerous figures jailed and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing civil war.
A Staggered Vote Amid Conflict
The ruling junta is holding a staggered election nearly five years after it seized power in a takeover, which ignited massive protests and escalated into a civil war.
Analysts note the military regime, with China's support, is seeking to legitimise and entrench its power as it seeks a way out of the devastating deadlock.
"There are no conditions for the exercise of the rights of free speech, assembly or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker TĂĽrk stated.
Over two hundred people have been charged for interfering with or opposing the election 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 given a seven-year jail term after speaking out against a film endorsing the elections.
Immense Challenges and Pressure
Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr TĂĽrk noted in a comment, pointing out that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats urging people to boycott the polls.
The army has been fighting on several fronts, against both armed resistance groups who reject 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 clawed back territory this year after sustained aerial bombardment made possible through support from China and Russia.
All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under opposition control presents a huge logistical challenge for holding 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 not secure enough. Results 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, some districts will hold elections, making it difficult to forecast a likely turnout.
A handful of parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while dozens more parties and non-aligned contenders will compete only at the state or regional levels.
Some 40 parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which achieved landslide victories in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's key leaders have been jailed under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while others are in hiding abroad.
Criticism and Rejection
"Through dividing the vote into stages, the junta can adjust tactics if the results in the initial round do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts.
Western governments, including the United Kingdom and the EU legislature, have dismissed the vote as a sham, while regional bloc Asean has urged political dialogue to come before any election.
The Burmese junta has rejected condemnation of the polls, insisting 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 international community," a junta spokesman stated at a news conference last week.
Military leader Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are rejecting "progress toward democracy".
