Conflict-ravaged Burma Votes in Widely Criticised Political Theater.
The nation is holding an election in a vote broadly rejected as a farce, with key opposition groups dissolved, numerous figures jailed and as much as half of the country unlikely to vote because of an ongoing civil war.
A Phased Ballot Amid Conflict
The ruling junta is holding a phased ballot nearly half a decade after it seized power in a coup, which ignited widespread opposition and spiralled into a civil war.
Analysts note the junta, with China's support, is seeking to legitimise and consolidate its power as it seeks a way out of the devastating deadlock.
"There are no conditions for the exercise of the rights of free speech, association 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 imposes harsh penalties, including the possibility of execution.
Director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures found guilty under the law, which was passed in July. They were each given a seven-year jail term after criticising a film endorsing the elections.
Logistical Nightmare and Pressure
Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, pointing out that resistance forces have issued their own threats 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 armies which have their own forces. It ceded territory of large parts of the country in a string of defeats, but clawed back territory this year after sustained aerial bombardment enabled by support from Beijing and Moscow.
All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under rebel administration presents a massive operational hurdle for conducting an election.
A Limited Vote
The ballot is set to take place in three rounds over the next month in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the remainder deemed not secure enough. Outcomes are expected around the end of January.
There is not expected to be any voting in up to fifty percent of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, some districts will hold elections, making it challenging to predict a likely turnout.
Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while dozens more parties and independent candidates 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 banned. Suu Kyi and many of the party's senior figures have been jailed under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while the rest are in exile.
Criticism and Rejection
"By splitting the vote into phases, the authorities can adjust tactics if the results in the initial round do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts.
Western governments, including the UK and the EU legislature, have rejected the vote as a pretence, while neighbouring group Asean has called for political dialogue to precede any election.
The Burmese junta has rejected condemnation of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "restore a democracy with multiple parties".
"The election is being held for our nation. It is being held for the people of this country. It is not being held for the outside world," a junta spokesman stated at a briefing last week.
Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "the path to democracy".
