War-torn Myanmar Goes to the Polls in Widely Criticised Political Theater.
Myanmar is going to the polls in a vote widely dismissed as a farce, with key opposition groups banned, many of their leaders imprisoned and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing internal conflict.
A Staggered Vote Amid Conflict
The ruling junta is conducting a phased ballot nearly five years after it seized power in a coup, which ignited massive protests and escalated into a devastating conflict.
Analysts note the junta, with China's support, is attempting to validate and consolidate its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating stalemate.
"The environment does not allow for the practice of the freedoms of free speech, assembly or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated.
More than 200 people have been prosecuted for disrupting or opposing the election under a recently enacted legislation which imposes severe punishments, including the possibility of execution.
Film director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals found guilty under the law, which was passed in July. They were each handed a prison sentence of seven years after speaking out against a film promoting the elections.
Logistical Nightmare and Coercion
Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a statement, pointing out that armed rebel groups have made warnings urging people to boycott the polls.
The military has been engaged on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armies which have their own militias. It ceded territory of vast areas of the country in a string of defeats, but regained territory this year following relentless airstrikes made possible through support from China and Russia.
All of this and the fact that large parts 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 rounds over the coming weeks in 274 of the country's 330 townships, with the remainder deemed too unstable. Outcomes are expected by late January.
There is not expected to be any voting in up to fifty percent of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, not all constituencies will hold elections, making it challenging to forecast a likely turnout.
A handful of parties, including the junta-supported 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 scored decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and many of the party's senior figures have been jailed 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 first phase 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 neighbouring group Asean has urged political dialogue to precede any election.
The Myanmar regime has rejected condemnation of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "return [the country] to a multi-party democratic system".
"The election 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 told a news conference last week.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are rejecting "the path to democracy".
