Conflict-ravaged Myanmar Votes in Widely Criticised Political Theater.
The nation is holding an election in a electoral process broadly rejected as a sham, with key opposition groups banned, numerous figures imprisoned and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing internal conflict.
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 massive protests and escalated into a civil war.
Analysts note the military regime, 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 freedom of expression, assembly or peaceful assembly," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker TĂŒrk stated.
More than 200 people have been charged for interfering with or criticising the polls under a recently enacted legislation which imposes severe punishments, including the death penalty.
Director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals convicted under the law, which was passed in July. They were each given a seven-year jail term after speaking out against a promotional video promoting the elections.
Immense Challenges and Pressure
Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr TĂŒrk noted in a statement, pointing out that armed rebel groups have made warnings asking people to boycott the polls.
The army has been fighting on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own forces. It lost control of large parts of the country in a series of major setbacks, 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 massive operational hurdle for conducting an election.
A Limited Vote
Voting is set to take place in three phases over the next month in 274 of the country's 330 townships, with the remainder deemed not secure enough. Outcomes 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, not all constituencies will go to the polls, making it challenging to predict a likely turnout.
A handful of 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 local levels.
Approximately forty groups, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which scored decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been banned. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's key leaders have been imprisoned under charges widely condemned as politically motivated, while others are in exile.
Criticism and Rejection
"Through dividing the vote into phases, the junta can change their approach if the results in the first phase do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts.
Western governments, including the UK and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a sham, while regional bloc Asean has urged political dialogue to precede any election.
The Burmese junta has rejected criticism of the polls, maintaining 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 outside world," a junta spokesman stated at a briefing last week.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are turning their back on "the path to democracy".
