Conflict-ravaged Burma Goes to the Polls in Widely Criticised Political Theater.
The nation is holding an election in a electoral process widely dismissed as a farce, with major political parties dissolved, numerous figures jailed and as much as half of the country unlikely to vote because of an ongoing internal conflict.
A Staggered Vote Amid War
The ruling junta is holding a phased ballot nearly five years after it seized power in a coup, which ignited massive protests and spiralled into a devastating conflict.
Analysts note the military regime, with backing from Beijing, is attempting to validate 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," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker TĂĽrk said.
Over two hundred people have been prosecuted for disrupting or opposing the polls under a recently enacted legislation which carries harsh penalties, including the death penalty.
Director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures found guilty under the law, which was passed in July. They were each handed a seven-year jail term after speaking out against a promotional video endorsing the elections.
Logistical Nightmare and Pressure
Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr TĂĽrk noted in a comment, pointing out that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats urging people to shun the polls.
The army has been fighting on several fronts, against both armed resistance groups who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations 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 sustained aerial bombardment enabled by support from China and Russia.
All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under opposition control presents a massive logistical challenge for conducting 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 unlikely to be any voting in up to fifty percent of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, some districts will hold elections, making it challenging to forecast a likely turnout.
Six parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while another 51 parties and independent candidates will compete only at the state or regional levels.
Approximately forty groups, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which scored landslide victories in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's senior figures have been imprisoned under charges broadly viewed as politically motivated, while the rest are in exile.
International Condemnation
"By splitting the vote into stages, the junta can adjust tactics 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 UK and the European Parliament, have rejected the vote as a pretence, while regional bloc Asean has called for political dialogue to come before any election.
The Burmese junta has rejected condemnation of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "restore a multi-party democratic system".
"This vote is being held for our nation. It is being held for the citizens of Myanmar. It is not intended for the outside world," a military representative stated at a briefing last week.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are rejecting "the path to democracy".
