War-torn Burma Votes in Widely Criticised Political Theater.
Myanmar is going to the polls in a vote broadly rejected as a sham, with major political parties banned, many of their leaders imprisoned and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an continuing civil war.
A Staggered Vote Amid War
The ruling junta is holding a phased ballot nearly five years after it seized power in a coup, which sparked widespread opposition and escalated into a civil war.
Observers say the junta, with China's support, is seeking to legitimise and entrench its power as it seeks a way out of the devastating stalemate.
"There are no conditions for the practice of the rights of freedom of expression, association or peaceful protest," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker TĂĽrk stated.
More than 200 people have been prosecuted for disrupting or opposing the polls under a recently enacted legislation which imposes harsh penalties, including the death penalty.
Director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals convicted under the law, which was enacted in July. They were each handed a seven-year jail term after speaking out against a promotional video promoting the elections.
Logistical Nightmare and Coercion
Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr TĂĽrk noted in a statement, pointing out that resistance forces have issued their own threats asking people to shun the polls.
The army has been engaged on several fronts, against both pro-democracy fighters who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armies which have their own forces. It lost control of vast areas of the country in a series of major setbacks, but regained territory this year following sustained aerial bombardment made possible through support from Beijing and Moscow.
All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under opposition control presents a huge logistical challenge for holding an election.
A Limited Vote
The ballot is set to take place in three rounds over the next month in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the rest deemed too unstable. Outcomes are expected around the end of 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 go to the polls, making it difficult to predict 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 independent candidates will contest only at the state or regional levels.
Some 40 parties, 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 key leaders have been imprisoned under charges widely condemned as fabricated, while the rest are in exile.
International Condemnation
"Through dividing the vote into phases, the junta can adjust tactics if the results in the initial round do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts.
Western governments, including the United Kingdom and the EU legislature, have rejected the vote as a pretence, while neighbouring group Asean has urged negotiations to precede any election.
The Myanmar regime has rejected criticism of the polls, insisting that it aims to "return [the country] to a democracy with multiple parties".
"The election is being held for our nation. It is being held for the citizens of Myanmar. It is not intended for the outside world," a junta spokesman told a briefing last week.
Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are rejecting "progress toward democracy".
