War-torn Burma Votes in Widely Criticised Political Theater.
Myanmar is going to the polls in a vote broadly rejected as a farce, with major political parties banned, numerous figures jailed and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an ongoing internal conflict.
A Staggered Vote Amid Conflict
The ruling junta is conducting a phased ballot nearly half a decade after it seized power in a takeover, which sparked widespread opposition and spiralled into a devastating conflict.
Analysts note the junta, with backing from Beijing, is attempting to validate and consolidate its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating stalemate.
"There are no conditions for the practice of the rights of freedom of expression, assembly or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk said.
More than 200 people have been charged for interfering with or opposing the election under a new law which imposes severe punishments, including the death penalty.
Film director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals convicted under the law, which was passed in July. They were each given a prison sentence of seven years after criticising a promotional video endorsing the elections.
Logistical Nightmare and Coercion
Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, pointing out that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats urging people to shun the polls.
The army has been fighting on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who reject 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 clawed back territory this year following relentless airstrikes enabled by support from Beijing and Moscow.
All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under opposition control presents a massive logistical challenge for conducting an election.
A Restricted Poll
Voting 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 remainder deemed too unstable. 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 hold elections, making it difficult to forecast a possible turnout.
Six 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 local levels.
Approximately forty groups, 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 imprisoned under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while others are in exile.
Criticism and Rejection
"By splitting the vote into stages, the authorities can change their approach if the outcomes 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 UK and the EU legislature, have dismissed the vote as a sham, while regional bloc Asean has called for negotiations to precede any election.
The Myanmar regime has rejected criticism of the polls, insisting that it aims to "return [the country] to a democracy with multiple parties".
"This vote is being held for our nation. It is being held for the people of this country. It is not being held for the outside world," a junta spokesman stated at a briefing last week.
Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "the path to democracy".