War-torn Burma Goes to the Polls in Broadly Condemned Political Theater.
The nation is holding an election in a electoral process broadly rejected as a sham, with key opposition groups dissolved, numerous figures jailed and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an continuing internal conflict.
A Phased Ballot Amid Conflict
The ruling junta is holding a phased ballot nearly five years after it seized power in a coup, which sparked widespread opposition and spiralled into a devastating conflict.
Analysts note the military regime, with China's support, is attempting to validate and consolidate its power as it looks for a way out of the costly stalemate.
"The environment does not allow for the practice of the freedoms of free speech, association or peaceful assembly," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker TĂĽrk stated.
Over two hundred people have been prosecuted for disrupting or opposing the polls under a new law which carries severe punishments, including the possibility of execution.
Film director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals convicted under the law, which was passed in July. They were each given a seven-year jail term after speaking out against a promotional video promoting the elections.
Immense Challenges and Pressure
Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr TĂĽrk said in a comment, adding that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats asking people to boycott the polls.
The army has been engaged on several fronts, against both armed resistance groups who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own militias. It lost control of vast areas of the country in a series of major setbacks, but clawed back 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 logistical challenge for holding an election.
A Limited Vote
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 rest deemed too unstable. Results are expected by late January.
There is not expected to be any voting in as much as one half of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, not all constituencies will hold elections, making it difficult to forecast a possible turnout.
Six parties, including the military-backed 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 achieved landslide victories in 2015 and 2020, have been banned. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's senior figures have been jailed under charges broadly viewed as politically motivated, while the rest are in hiding abroad.
International Condemnation
"Through dividing the vote into stages, 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 watchdog group Spring Sprouts.
Nations in the West, including the United Kingdom and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a sham, while neighbouring group Asean has urged negotiations to come before any election.
The Burmese junta has rejected condemnation of the polls, insisting that it aims to "restore a democracy with multiple parties".
"This vote is being held for our nation. It is being held for the people of Myanmar. It is not being held for the outside world," a junta spokesman told a briefing last week.
Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "the path to democracy".
