Conflict-ravaged Myanmar Goes to the Polls in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election.
Myanmar is going to the polls in a vote widely dismissed as a sham, with key opposition groups dissolved, many of their leaders imprisoned and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an ongoing civil war.
A Phased Ballot Amid War
The military government is holding a phased ballot nearly five years after it seized power in a coup, which ignited massive protests and escalated into a civil war.
Analysts note the military regime, with backing from Beijing, is seeking to legitimise and entrench its power as it looks for a way out of the costly stalemate.
"The environment does not allow for the practice of the rights of freedom of expression, association or peaceful protest," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker TΓΌrk stated.
Over two hundred people have been charged for disrupting or opposing the polls under a recently enacted legislation which carries severe punishments, including the death penalty.
Director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures found guilty under the law, which was enacted in July. They were each handed a seven-year jail term after speaking out against a film promoting the elections.
Immense Challenges and Coercion
Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr TΓΌrk 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 pro-democracy fighters who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armies which have their own forces. It lost control of large parts of the country in a string of defeats, but regained territory this year after relentless airstrikes enabled by support from China and Russia.
All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under rebel administration presents a huge logistical challenge for conducting an election.
A Restricted Poll
Voting is set to take place in three phases over the next month in 274 of the country's 330 townships, with the rest deemed not secure enough. Outcomes are expected by late January.
There is unlikely to be any voting in up to fifty percent of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, some districts will hold elections, making it difficult to forecast a possible turnout.
Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while dozens more parties and non-aligned contenders will compete 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 banned. Suu Kyi and many of the party's senior figures have been imprisoned under charges widely condemned as fabricated, while the rest are in hiding abroad.
Criticism and Rejection
"Through dividing the vote into phases, the authorities can change their approach if the outcomes in the first phase do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts.
Western governments, including the UK and the European Parliament, have rejected the vote as a sham, while neighbouring group Asean has urged political dialogue to come before any election.
The Burmese junta has dismissed condemnation of the polls, insisting that it aims to "restore a democracy with multiple parties".
"The election is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the citizens of this country. It is not intended for the international community," a junta spokesman stated at a news conference last week.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are rejecting "progress toward democracy".
