War-torn Myanmar Votes in Widely Criticised Political Theater.
The nation is holding an election in a electoral process broadly rejected as a sham, with key opposition groups dissolved, numerous figures imprisoned and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing civil war.
A Phased Ballot Amid War
The military government is holding a phased ballot nearly half a decade after it took control in a takeover, which sparked widespread opposition and escalated into a devastating conflict.
Observers say the military regime, with China's support, is attempting to validate and entrench its power as it looks for a way out of the costly deadlock.
"There are no conditions for the practice of the freedoms of freedom of expression, association or peaceful protest," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk stated.
More than 200 people have been prosecuted for interfering with or opposing the election under a new law which carries severe punishments, including the possibility of execution.
Director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures convicted under the law, which was enacted in July. They were each handed a seven-year jail term after speaking out against a film endorsing the elections.
Logistical Nightmare and Pressure
Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk said in a statement, pointing out that resistance forces have issued their own threats asking 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 lost control of large parts of the country in a series of major setbacks, but clawed back territory this year after relentless airstrikes enabled by 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 holding an election.
A Restricted Poll
Voting is set to take place in three phases over the coming weeks in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the remainder deemed not secure enough. Results 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 running nominees nationwide, while dozens more parties and independent candidates will contest only at the local 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 broadly viewed as fabricated, while the rest are in hiding abroad.
Criticism and Rejection
"Through dividing the vote into phases, the junta can change their approach if the outcomes in the first phase do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts.
Western governments, including the United Kingdom and the European Parliament, have rejected the vote as a pretence, while neighbouring group Asean has called for negotiations to come before any election.
The Burmese junta has rejected condemnation of the polls, insisting that it aims to "return [the country] to a multi-party democratic system".
"This vote is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the people 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 refuse to vote are turning their back on "the path to democracy".