🔗 Share this article Conflict-ravaged Burma Votes in Broadly Condemned Political Theater. The country's junta is conducting a staggered vote over the next month. Myanmar is going to the polls in a vote widely dismissed as a sham, with key opposition groups dissolved, many of their leaders jailed and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing civil war. A Staggered Vote Amid War The military government is conducting a phased ballot nearly five years after it took control in a takeover, which sparked massive protests and escalated into a devastating conflict. 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 devastating stalemate. "There are no conditions for the practice of the freedoms of free speech, association or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated. More than 200 people have been prosecuted for interfering with or criticising the election under a recently enacted legislation which imposes harsh penalties, including the death penalty. 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 handed a seven-year jail term after criticising a promotional video promoting the elections. Immense Challenges and Pressure Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, adding that resistance forces have issued their own threats asking 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 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 after sustained aerial bombardment enabled by support from Beijing and Moscow. All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under opposition control presents a huge operational hurdle for holding an election. A Restricted Poll The ballot is set to take place in three phases over the coming weeks in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the remainder deemed not secure enough. Results 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, some districts will go to the polls, making it difficult to predict a likely turnout. Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while another 51 parties and independent candidates will contest only at the local levels. Some 40 parties, 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 jailed under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while others are in hiding abroad. Criticism and Rejection "By splitting the vote into phases, the authorities can adjust tactics if the results in the first phase do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts. Nations in the West, including the UK and the European Parliament, have rejected the vote as a sham, while regional bloc Asean has urged negotiations to come before any election. The Myanmar regime has rejected criticism of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "restore a multi-party democratic system". "The election is being held for our nation. It is being held for the citizens of this country. It is not intended for the outside world," a junta spokesman told a news conference last week. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are rejecting "progress toward democracy".
The country's junta is conducting a staggered vote over the next month. Myanmar is going to the polls in a vote widely dismissed as a sham, with key opposition groups dissolved, many of their leaders jailed and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing civil war. A Staggered Vote Amid War The military government is conducting a phased ballot nearly five years after it took control in a takeover, which sparked massive protests and escalated into a devastating conflict. 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 devastating stalemate. "There are no conditions for the practice of the freedoms of free speech, association or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated. More than 200 people have been prosecuted for interfering with or criticising the election under a recently enacted legislation which imposes harsh penalties, including the death penalty. 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 handed a seven-year jail term after criticising a promotional video promoting the elections. Immense Challenges and Pressure Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, adding that resistance forces have issued their own threats asking 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 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 after sustained aerial bombardment enabled by support from Beijing and Moscow. All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under opposition control presents a huge operational hurdle for holding an election. A Restricted Poll The ballot is set to take place in three phases over the coming weeks in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the remainder deemed not secure enough. Results 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, some districts will go to the polls, making it difficult to predict a likely turnout. Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while another 51 parties and independent candidates will contest only at the local levels. Some 40 parties, 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 jailed under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while others are in hiding abroad. Criticism and Rejection "By splitting the vote into phases, the authorities can adjust tactics if the results in the first phase do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts. Nations in the West, including the UK and the European Parliament, have rejected the vote as a sham, while regional bloc Asean has urged negotiations to come before any election. The Myanmar regime has rejected criticism of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "restore a multi-party democratic system". "The election is being held for our nation. It is being held for the citizens of this country. It is not intended for the outside world," a junta spokesman told a news conference last week. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are rejecting "progress toward democracy".