🔗 Share this article Conflict-ravaged Burma Votes in Broadly Condemned Political Theater. Myanmar's military is holding a phased election over the coming weeks. Myanmar is going to the polls in a electoral process widely dismissed as a sham, with key opposition groups dissolved, numerous figures jailed and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an continuing internal conflict. A Phased Ballot Amid Conflict The ruling junta is conducting a phased ballot nearly five years after it took control in a coup, which sparked massive protests and spiralled into a devastating conflict. Analysts note the junta, with backing from Beijing, is attempting to validate and consolidate its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating deadlock. "There are no conditions for the practice of the freedoms of freedom of expression, assembly or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk said. More than 200 people have been charged for interfering with or criticising the polls under a recently enacted legislation which imposes harsh penalties, including the possibility of execution. 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 prison sentence of seven years after criticising a film promoting the elections. Logistical Nightmare and Pressure Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, pointing out that resistance forces have issued their own threats urging people to boycott the polls. The army has been engaged on several fronts, against both pro-democracy fighters who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own militias. It lost control of vast areas of the country in a string of defeats, but clawed back territory this year after relentless airstrikes enabled by support from Beijing and Moscow. All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under opposition control presents a massive operational hurdle for conducting an election. A Restricted Poll Voting is set to take place in three rounds over the coming weeks in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 townships, with the rest deemed too unstable. 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. A handful of parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while another 51 parties and non-aligned contenders will contest 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 banned. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's key leaders have been imprisoned under charges widely condemned as fabricated, while the rest are in hiding abroad. International Condemnation "Through dividing the vote into stages, the junta can change their approach if the results in the initial round do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts. Western governments, including the UK and the EU legislature, have rejected the vote as a sham, while regional bloc Asean has urged political dialogue to precede 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 our nation. It is being held for the citizens of Myanmar. It is not being held for the outside world," a junta spokesman told a news conference last week. Military leader Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are rejecting "the path to democracy".
Myanmar's military is holding a phased election over the coming weeks. Myanmar is going to the polls in a electoral process widely dismissed as a sham, with key opposition groups dissolved, numerous figures jailed and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an continuing internal conflict. A Phased Ballot Amid Conflict The ruling junta is conducting a phased ballot nearly five years after it took control in a coup, which sparked massive protests and spiralled into a devastating conflict. Analysts note the junta, with backing from Beijing, is attempting to validate and consolidate its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating deadlock. "There are no conditions for the practice of the freedoms of freedom of expression, assembly or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk said. More than 200 people have been charged for interfering with or criticising the polls under a recently enacted legislation which imposes harsh penalties, including the possibility of execution. 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 prison sentence of seven years after criticising a film promoting the elections. Logistical Nightmare and Pressure Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, pointing out that resistance forces have issued their own threats urging people to boycott the polls. The army has been engaged on several fronts, against both pro-democracy fighters who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own militias. It lost control of vast areas of the country in a string of defeats, but clawed back territory this year after relentless airstrikes enabled by support from Beijing and Moscow. All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under opposition control presents a massive operational hurdle for conducting an election. A Restricted Poll Voting is set to take place in three rounds over the coming weeks in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 townships, with the rest deemed too unstable. 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. A handful of parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while another 51 parties and non-aligned contenders will contest 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 banned. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's key leaders have been imprisoned under charges widely condemned as fabricated, while the rest are in hiding abroad. International Condemnation "Through dividing the vote into stages, the junta can change their approach if the results in the initial round do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts. Western governments, including the UK and the EU legislature, have rejected the vote as a sham, while regional bloc Asean has urged political dialogue to precede 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 our nation. It is being held for the citizens of Myanmar. It is not being held for the outside world," a junta spokesman told a news conference last week. Military leader Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are rejecting "the path to democracy".