🔗 Share this article Conflict-ravaged Burma Votes in Widely Criticised Political Theater. The country's military is conducting a staggered vote over the next month. Myanmar is going to the polls in a electoral process broadly rejected as a farce, with major political parties banned, many of their leaders imprisoned and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing internal conflict. A Staggered Vote Amid War The ruling junta is conducting a staggered election nearly five years after it seized power in a takeover, which ignited widespread opposition and spiralled into a devastating conflict. Observers say the military regime, with backing from Beijing, is attempting to validate and consolidate its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating stalemate. "There are no conditions for the exercise of the freedoms of freedom of expression, association or peaceful protest," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said. Over two hundred people have been prosecuted for interfering with or criticising the election under a new law which carries harsh penalties, including the death penalty. Film director Mike Tee, actor 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 criticising a promotional video endorsing the elections. Logistical Nightmare and Pressure Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk said in a comment, adding that resistance forces have made warnings asking people to shun the polls. The army has been engaged on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who oppose 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 clawed back territory this year following 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 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 not secure enough. Results are expected around the end of 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 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 compete only at the local levels. Approximately forty groups, 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 key leaders have been imprisoned under charges widely condemned as fabricated, while the rest are in exile. Criticism and Rejection "By splitting the vote into stages, the junta can change their approach if the outcomes in the first phase do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a representative 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 come before any election. The Burmese junta has dismissed condemnation of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "restore a democracy with multiple parties". "The election is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the people of Myanmar. It is not intended for the international community," a junta spokesman stated at a briefing 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 military is conducting a staggered vote over the next month. Myanmar is going to the polls in a electoral process broadly rejected as a farce, with major political parties banned, many of their leaders imprisoned and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing internal conflict. A Staggered Vote Amid War The ruling junta is conducting a staggered election nearly five years after it seized power in a takeover, which ignited widespread opposition and spiralled into a devastating conflict. Observers say the military regime, with backing from Beijing, is attempting to validate and consolidate its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating stalemate. "There are no conditions for the exercise of the freedoms of freedom of expression, association or peaceful protest," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said. Over two hundred people have been prosecuted for interfering with or criticising the election under a new law which carries harsh penalties, including the death penalty. Film director Mike Tee, actor 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 criticising a promotional video endorsing the elections. Logistical Nightmare and Pressure Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk said in a comment, adding that resistance forces have made warnings asking people to shun the polls. The army has been engaged on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who oppose 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 clawed back territory this year following 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 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 not secure enough. Results are expected around the end of 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 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 compete only at the local levels. Approximately forty groups, 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 key leaders have been imprisoned under charges widely condemned as fabricated, while the rest are in exile. Criticism and Rejection "By splitting the vote into stages, the junta can change their approach if the outcomes in the first phase do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a representative 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 come before any election. The Burmese junta has dismissed condemnation of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "restore a democracy with multiple parties". "The election is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the people of Myanmar. It is not intended for the international community," a junta spokesman stated at a briefing last week. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are rejecting "progress toward democracy".