🔗 Share this article Conflict-ravaged Myanmar Goes to the Polls in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election. Myanmar's junta is conducting a staggered vote over the coming weeks. The nation is holding an election in a vote broadly rejected as a farce, with major political parties banned, numerous figures imprisoned and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing internal conflict. A Phased Ballot Amid War The ruling junta is conducting a staggered election nearly five years after it took control in a coup, which sparked massive protests and escalated into a civil war. Analysts note the military regime, 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 freedoms of freedom of expression, assembly or peaceful assembly," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said. Over two hundred people have been prosecuted for interfering with or opposing the polls under a new law which carries severe punishments, including the possibility of execution. Director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer 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 film endorsing the elections. Immense Challenges and Pressure Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk said in a statement, pointing out that resistance forces have issued their own threats asking people to shun the polls. The army has been fighting on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own forces. It lost control of large parts of the country in a string of defeats, but clawed back territory this year after sustained aerial bombardment made possible through 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 operational hurdle for holding an election. A Restricted Poll Voting is set to take place in three rounds over the coming weeks in 274 of the country's 330 townships, with the rest deemed not secure enough. Outcomes 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, not all constituencies will go to the polls, making it difficult to predict a possible turnout. Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while dozens more parties and non-aligned contenders will contest only at the state or regional levels. Some 40 parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which achieved decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and many of the party's senior figures have been jailed under charges widely condemned as fabricated, while others are in exile. Criticism and Rejection "Through dividing the vote into stages, the junta 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 neighbouring group Asean has called for political dialogue to come before any election. The Burmese junta has rejected condemnation of the polls, insisting that it aims to "return [the country] to a democracy with multiple parties". "This vote is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the people of Myanmar. It is not being held for the international community," a military representative stated at a briefing last week. Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are rejecting "the path to democracy".
Myanmar's junta is conducting a staggered vote over the coming weeks. The nation is holding an election in a vote broadly rejected as a farce, with major political parties banned, numerous figures imprisoned and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing internal conflict. A Phased Ballot Amid War The ruling junta is conducting a staggered election nearly five years after it took control in a coup, which sparked massive protests and escalated into a civil war. Analysts note the military regime, 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 freedoms of freedom of expression, assembly or peaceful assembly," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said. Over two hundred people have been prosecuted for interfering with or opposing the polls under a new law which carries severe punishments, including the possibility of execution. Director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer 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 film endorsing the elections. Immense Challenges and Pressure Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk said in a statement, pointing out that resistance forces have issued their own threats asking people to shun the polls. The army has been fighting on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own forces. It lost control of large parts of the country in a string of defeats, but clawed back territory this year after sustained aerial bombardment made possible through 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 operational hurdle for holding an election. A Restricted Poll Voting is set to take place in three rounds over the coming weeks in 274 of the country's 330 townships, with the rest deemed not secure enough. Outcomes 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, not all constituencies will go to the polls, making it difficult to predict a possible turnout. Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while dozens more parties and non-aligned contenders will contest only at the state or regional levels. Some 40 parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which achieved decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and many of the party's senior figures have been jailed under charges widely condemned as fabricated, while others are in exile. Criticism and Rejection "Through dividing the vote into stages, the junta 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 neighbouring group Asean has called for political dialogue to come before any election. The Burmese junta has rejected condemnation of the polls, insisting that it aims to "return [the country] to a democracy with multiple parties". "This vote is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the people of Myanmar. It is not being held for the international community," a military representative stated at a briefing last week. Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are rejecting "the path to democracy".