Conflict-ravaged Burma Votes in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election.
Myanmar is going to the polls in a electoral process broadly rejected as a sham, with major political parties banned, numerous figures jailed and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an continuing civil war.
A Phased Ballot Amid Conflict
The ruling junta is holding a staggered election nearly five years after it seized power in a coup, which ignited massive protests and escalated into a civil war.
Observers say the military regime, with backing from Beijing, is seeking to legitimise and entrench its power as it seeks a way out of the costly stalemate.
"There are no conditions for the exercise of the freedoms of free speech, assembly or peaceful protest," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker TĂĽrk said.
Over two hundred people have been prosecuted for disrupting or criticising the election under a recently enacted legislation which imposes severe punishments, including the possibility of execution.
Director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures found guilty under the law, which was passed in July. They were each handed a seven-year jail term after speaking out against a promotional video endorsing the elections.
Immense Challenges and Pressure
Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr TĂĽrk noted in a comment, adding that resistance forces have made warnings asking people to boycott the polls.
The army has been fighting on several fronts, against both pro-democracy fighters who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armies which have their own forces. It ceded territory of vast areas of the country in a series of major setbacks, but regained territory this year after sustained aerial bombardment enabled by 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 operational hurdle for holding an election.
A Limited Vote
The ballot is set to take place in three rounds over the next month in 274 of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the rest deemed not secure enough. Results 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, some districts will go to the polls, making it challenging to predict a likely turnout.
Six parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while dozens more parties and independent candidates will contest 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 banned. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's key leaders have been imprisoned under charges broadly viewed as politically motivated, while the rest are in exile.
Criticism and Rejection
"By splitting the vote into stages, the authorities can adjust tactics if the outcomes in the initial round do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a representative 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 negotiations to come before any election.
The Myanmar regime has rejected condemnation of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "restore a democracy with multiple parties".
"This vote is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the people of Myanmar. It is not intended for the outside world," a military representative stated at a briefing last week.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are rejecting "the path to democracy".
