War-torn Burma Votes in Broadly Condemned Political Theater.
Myanmar is going to the polls in a electoral process broadly rejected as a farce, with major political parties dissolved, numerous figures jailed and a significant portion of the country unlikely to vote because of an ongoing internal conflict.
A Staggered Vote Amid War
The military government is conducting a phased ballot nearly half a decade after it seized power in a takeover, which sparked 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 looks for a way out of the devastating deadlock.
"There are no conditions for the exercise of the rights of free speech, association or peaceful protest," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk stated.
More than 200 people have been charged for disrupting or opposing the polls under a new law which carries severe punishments, including the death penalty.
Film director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals found guilty under the law, which was enacted in July. They were each handed a prison sentence of seven years after speaking out against a film endorsing the elections.
Immense Challenges and Coercion
Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk said in a statement, adding that resistance forces have made warnings urging people to boycott the polls.
The military has been fighting on multiple battlefields, against both pro-democracy fighters who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armies which have their own militias. It ceded territory of vast areas of the country in a series of major setbacks, but regained territory this year following relentless airstrikes 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 huge logistical challenge for conducting an election.
A Restricted Poll
Voting 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 remainder deemed not secure enough. Results 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 go to the polls, making it challenging to forecast a likely turnout.
Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while another 51 parties and non-aligned contenders will contest only at the local levels.
Some 40 parties, 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 jailed under charges widely condemned as politically motivated, while others are in exile.
Criticism and Rejection
"By splitting the vote into phases, the junta can change their approach if the outcomes 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 neighbouring group Asean has urged political dialogue to precede any election.
The Myanmar regime has rejected condemnation of the polls, insisting that it aims to "return [the country] to a democracy with multiple parties".
"The election is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the citizens of Myanmar. It is not intended for the international community," a military representative stated at a news conference last week.
Military leader Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are rejecting "progress toward democracy".
