Conflict-ravaged Myanmar Goes to the Polls in Broadly Condemned Political Theater.
The nation is holding an election in a vote broadly rejected as a farce, with major political parties banned, many of their leaders jailed and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an continuing internal conflict.
A Phased Ballot Amid War
The military government is conducting a phased ballot nearly five years after it seized power in a takeover, which ignited massive protests and spiralled into a devastating conflict.
Analysts note the junta, with backing from Beijing, is attempting to validate and entrench its power as it looks for a way out of the costly stalemate.
"There are no conditions for the practice of the rights of freedom of expression, assembly or peaceful assembly," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk stated.
More than 200 people have been charged for interfering with or opposing the election under a recently enacted legislation which carries severe punishments, including the death penalty.
Film director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals 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 promoting the elections.
Logistical Nightmare and Pressure
Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk said in a statement, pointing out that armed rebel groups have made warnings asking people to boycott the polls.
The army has been engaged on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armies which have their own militias. It ceded territory of large parts of the country in a string of defeats, but clawed back territory this year following sustained aerial bombardment 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 massive operational hurdle for conducting an election.
A Restricted Poll
Voting is set to take place in three phases over the coming weeks in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 townships, with the remainder deemed not secure enough. Results are expected by late 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 go to the polls, making it challenging to forecast a likely turnout.
A handful of parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while another 51 parties and non-aligned contenders will contest only at the local levels.
Approximately forty groups, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which scored decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been banned. Suu Kyi and many of the party's key leaders have been jailed under charges widely condemned as politically motivated, while the rest are in hiding abroad.
Criticism and Rejection
"By splitting the vote into stages, the junta can adjust tactics if the outcomes in the first phase do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts.
Nations in the West, including the United Kingdom and the EU legislature, have rejected the vote as a pretence, while regional bloc Asean has called for negotiations to come before any election.
The Myanmar regime has rejected criticism of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "return [the country] to a multi-party democratic system".
"The election is being held for our nation. It is being held for the people of this country. It is not intended for the outside world," a military representative stated at a news conference last week.
Military leader Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are rejecting "progress toward democracy".