Conflict-ravaged Burma Goes to the Polls in Widely Criticised Political Theater.
Myanmar is going to the polls in a electoral process widely dismissed as a farce, with major political parties banned, many of their leaders jailed and as much as half of the country unlikely to vote because of an continuing civil war.
A Phased Ballot Amid Conflict
The ruling junta is conducting a staggered election nearly five years after it seized power in a takeover, which ignited massive protests and escalated into a civil war.
Observers say the military regime, with China's support, is seeking to legitimise and consolidate its power as it seeks a way out of the costly stalemate.
"There are no conditions for the exercise of the freedoms of free speech, assembly or peaceful assembly," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk stated.
Over two hundred people have been prosecuted for disrupting or criticising the election under a recently enacted legislation which carries harsh penalties, including the possibility of execution.
Director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures 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 endorsing the elections.
Immense Challenges and Pressure
Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a statement, pointing out that resistance forces have made warnings urging people to boycott the polls.
The army has been engaged on multiple battlefields, 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 string of defeats, but clawed back territory this year after relentless airstrikes made possible through support from Beijing and Moscow.
All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under rebel administration presents a huge logistical challenge for conducting an election.
A Limited Vote
Voting is set to take place in three rounds over the coming weeks in 274 of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the rest deemed not secure enough. Results 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, some districts will hold elections, making it difficult to forecast a likely turnout.
Six parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while another 51 parties and non-aligned contenders 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 banned. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's key leaders have been jailed under charges broadly viewed as politically motivated, while the rest are in exile.
International Condemnation
"By splitting the vote into stages, the authorities can adjust tactics if the results in the initial round do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts.
Western governments, including the UK and the EU legislature, have dismissed the vote as a pretence, while regional bloc Asean has called for negotiations to come before any election.
The Myanmar regime has dismissed criticism 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 people of this country. It is not being held for the international community," a military representative stated at a briefing last week.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "progress toward democracy".