Conflict-ravaged Burma Votes in Broadly Condemned Political Theater.
Myanmar is going to the polls in a electoral process widely dismissed as a farce, with key opposition groups banned, numerous figures jailed and as much as half of the country unlikely to vote because of an continuing civil war.
A Staggered Vote Amid Conflict
The ruling junta is holding a phased ballot nearly five years after it took control in a takeover, which sparked widespread opposition and escalated into a devastating conflict.
Analysts note the junta, with backing from Beijing, is seeking to legitimise and entrench its power as it seeks a way out of the costly deadlock.
"There are no conditions for the practice of the rights of free speech, association or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated.
Over two hundred people have been prosecuted for disrupting or opposing the polls under a recently enacted legislation which carries severe punishments, including the possibility of execution.
Film director Mike Tee, performer 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 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 statement, adding that resistance forces have made warnings urging people to boycott the polls.
The military has been engaged on several fronts, 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 series of major setbacks, but regained 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
The ballot is set to take place in three rounds over the next month in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 townships, with the rest deemed too unstable. Outcomes are expected around the end of 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 go to the polls, making it difficult to forecast a likely turnout.
Six parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while dozens more parties and independent candidates will contest only at the state or regional 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 the rest are in hiding abroad.
International Condemnation
"Through dividing the vote into phases, 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 United Kingdom and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a sham, while neighbouring group Asean has called for political dialogue to come before any election.
The Burmese junta has dismissed criticism of the polls, insisting that it aims to "return [the country] to a democracy with multiple parties".
"This vote is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the citizens of this country. It is not being held for the international community," a military representative stated at a briefing last week.
Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are rejecting "the path to democracy".