Conflict-ravaged Myanmar Votes in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election.
The nation is holding an election in a vote broadly rejected as a sham, with key opposition groups banned, many of their leaders jailed and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an ongoing civil war.
A Staggered Vote Amid Conflict
The ruling junta is conducting a phased ballot nearly five years after it took control in a coup, which sparked widespread opposition and spiralled into a civil war.
Analysts note the military regime, with backing from Beijing, is attempting to validate and consolidate its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating deadlock.
"The environment does not allow for the exercise of the rights of free speech, assembly or peaceful protest," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker TĂŒrk said.
More than 200 people have been charged for interfering with or criticising the polls under a new law which imposes harsh penalties, including the possibility of execution.
Director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals convicted under the law, which was enacted in July. They were each given a seven-year jail term after criticising a promotional video endorsing the elections.
Immense Challenges and Coercion
Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr TĂŒrk noted in a statement, pointing out that resistance forces have made warnings urging people to boycott 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 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 large parts of the country are still under opposition control presents a massive operational hurdle for holding an election.
A Restricted Poll
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 remainder deemed too unstable. Outcomes are expected around the end of January.
There is unlikely to be any voting in as much as one half of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, not all constituencies will go to the polls, making it difficult to predict a possible turnout.
Six 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 state or regional levels.
Approximately forty groups, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which achieved decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been banned. Suu Kyi and many of the party's key leaders have been imprisoned under charges broadly viewed as politically motivated, while others are in hiding abroad.
Criticism and Rejection
"By splitting the vote into phases, the junta can change their approach if the outcomes in the first phase do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a representative of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts.
Nations in the West, including the UK and the EU legislature, have dismissed the vote as a sham, while regional bloc Asean has called for negotiations to come before any election.
The Myanmar regime has dismissed condemnation of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "restore a multi-party democratic system".
"This vote is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the citizens of this country. It is not intended for the international community," a junta spokesman stated at a briefing last week.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are rejecting "progress toward democracy".
