Conflict-ravaged Myanmar Goes to the Polls in Broadly Condemned 'Sham' Election.

The nation is holding an election in a vote widely dismissed as a farce, with key opposition groups dissolved, numerous figures imprisoned and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an ongoing civil war.

A Staggered Vote Amid War

The military government is holding a staggered election nearly half a decade after it took control in a takeover, which sparked massive protests and escalated into a civil war.

Observers say the military regime, with backing from Beijing, is seeking to legitimise 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 freedoms of freedom of expression, assembly or peaceful assembly," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk stated.

Over two hundred people have been charged for disrupting or criticising the polls under a new law which imposes severe punishments, including the death penalty.

Director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer 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 film promoting the elections.

Logistical Nightmare and Coercion

Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, pointing out that resistance forces have made warnings asking people to boycott the polls.

The military has been fighting on multiple battlefields, against both pro-democracy fighters who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own forces. It ceded territory of vast areas of the country in a series of major setbacks, but regained territory this year after 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 rebel administration presents a huge logistical challenge for conducting an election.

A Restricted Poll

The ballot is set to take place in three phases 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 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 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 fielding candidates nationwide, while dozens more parties and independent candidates will compete only at the local levels.

Some 40 parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which achieved landslide victories in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and many of the party's senior figures have been imprisoned under charges broadly viewed as politically motivated, while the rest are in exile.

Criticism and Rejection

"Through dividing the vote into phases, the authorities can change their approach 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 United Kingdom and the European Parliament, have rejected the vote as a sham, while regional bloc Asean has called for negotiations to precede 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 our nation. It is being held for the citizens of Myanmar. It is not intended for the international community," 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 rejecting "progress toward democracy".