War-torn Burma Votes in Widely Criticised Political Theater.
Myanmar is going to the polls in a vote broadly rejected as a sham, with key opposition groups banned, many of their leaders imprisoned and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an continuing civil war.
A Phased Ballot Amid War
The military government is conducting a phased ballot nearly five years after it took control in a coup, which ignited widespread opposition and spiralled into a civil war.
Analysts note the junta, with China's support, is attempting to validate and consolidate its power as it seeks a way out of the devastating stalemate.
"There are no conditions for the exercise of the freedoms of free speech, association or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker TĂĽrk said.
More than 200 people have been prosecuted for disrupting or criticising the polls under a recently enacted legislation which carries harsh penalties, including the death penalty.
Film director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures found guilty under the law, which was passed in July. They were each handed a prison sentence of seven years after speaking out against a promotional video promoting the elections.
Logistical Nightmare and Pressure
Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr TĂĽrk noted in a statement, pointing out that armed rebel groups have made warnings urging people to boycott the polls.
The military has been engaged on multiple battlefields, against both pro-democracy fighters who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own militias. It lost control of large parts of the country in a string of defeats, but regained territory this year following sustained aerial bombardment made possible through 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 operational hurdle for holding an election.
A Restricted Poll
Voting is set to take place in three phases over the next month in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 townships, with the remainder deemed not secure enough. Outcomes are expected around the end of January.
There is not expected to be any voting in as much as one half of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, not all constituencies will hold elections, making it difficult to predict a likely turnout.
A handful of parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while another 51 parties and non-aligned contenders will contest 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 dissolved. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's key leaders have been jailed under charges broadly viewed as politically motivated, while others are in hiding abroad.
International Condemnation
"By splitting the vote into phases, the authorities can adjust tactics if the results 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 UK and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a sham, while neighbouring group Asean has urged political dialogue to come before any election.
The Burmese junta has rejected criticism of the polls, maintaining 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 Myanmar. It is not being held for the international community," a junta spokesman told a briefing last week.
Military leader Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are rejecting "progress toward democracy".
