🔗 Share this article War-torn Burma Votes in Broadly Condemned Political Theater. The country's military is conducting a staggered election over the coming weeks. 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 unable to participate because of an ongoing internal conflict. A Phased Ballot Amid War The military government is conducting a phased ballot nearly half a decade after it seized power in a takeover, which sparked massive protests and escalated into a devastating conflict. 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 deadlock. "The environment does not allow for the exercise of the freedoms of free speech, association or peaceful protest," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated. More than 200 people have been charged for interfering with or criticising the election under a recently enacted legislation 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 given a prison sentence of seven years after criticising a film endorsing the elections. Immense Challenges and Coercion Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk said in a statement, pointing out that resistance forces have made warnings asking people to boycott the polls. The army has been fighting on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armies which have their own militias. It lost control of vast areas of the country in a series of major setbacks, but clawed back territory this year after relentless airstrikes made possible through support from Beijing and Moscow. All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under rebel administration 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 rest deemed too unstable. Outcomes are expected around the end of January. There is unlikely to be any voting in as much as one half of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, some districts will hold elections, making it challenging to forecast a possible 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 contest only at the state or regional levels. Approximately forty groups, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which scored decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's key leaders have been jailed under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while the rest are in hiding abroad. 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," noted 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 pretence, while regional bloc Asean has urged negotiations to precede any election. The Myanmar regime has rejected criticism of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "return [the country] to a democracy with multiple parties". "The election is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the citizens of Myanmar. It is not being held for the outside world," a junta spokesman stated at a news conference last week. Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are turning their back on "the path to democracy".
The country's military is conducting a staggered election over the coming weeks. 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 unable to participate because of an ongoing internal conflict. A Phased Ballot Amid War The military government is conducting a phased ballot nearly half a decade after it seized power in a takeover, which sparked massive protests and escalated into a devastating conflict. 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 deadlock. "The environment does not allow for the exercise of the freedoms of free speech, association or peaceful protest," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated. More than 200 people have been charged for interfering with or criticising the election under a recently enacted legislation 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 given a prison sentence of seven years after criticising a film endorsing the elections. Immense Challenges and Coercion Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk said in a statement, pointing out that resistance forces have made warnings asking people to boycott the polls. The army has been fighting on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armies which have their own militias. It lost control of vast areas of the country in a series of major setbacks, but clawed back territory this year after relentless airstrikes made possible through support from Beijing and Moscow. All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under rebel administration 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 rest deemed too unstable. Outcomes are expected around the end of January. There is unlikely to be any voting in as much as one half of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, some districts will hold elections, making it challenging to forecast a possible 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 contest only at the state or regional levels. Approximately forty groups, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which scored decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's key leaders have been jailed under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while the rest are in hiding abroad. 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," noted 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 pretence, while regional bloc Asean has urged negotiations to precede any election. The Myanmar regime has rejected criticism of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "return [the country] to a democracy with multiple parties". "The election is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the citizens of Myanmar. It is not being held for the outside world," a junta spokesman stated at a news conference last week. Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are turning their back on "the path to democracy".