🔗 Share this article Conflict-ravaged Burma Votes in Widely Criticised Political Theater. The country's military is conducting a phased vote over the coming weeks. The nation is holding an election in a vote widely dismissed as a farce, with key opposition groups dissolved, many of their leaders 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 holding a phased ballot nearly five years after it seized power in a coup, which ignited widespread opposition and escalated into a devastating conflict. Observers say the military regime, with backing from Beijing, is seeking to legitimise and consolidate its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating deadlock. "The environment does not allow for the exercise of the rights of freedom of expression, association or peaceful protest," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said. More than 200 people have been prosecuted for disrupting or criticising the election under a new law which imposes severe punishments, 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 seven-year jail term after speaking out against a film promoting the elections. Immense Challenges and Coercion Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, adding that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats urging people to boycott the polls. The army has been engaged on several fronts, against both armed resistance groups who reject 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 regained 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 opposition control presents a massive operational hurdle for conducting an election. A Restricted Poll The ballot is set to take place in three phases over the coming weeks in 274 of the country's 330 townships, with the remainder deemed not secure enough. Outcomes are expected by late January. There is unlikely to be any voting in as much as one half of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, not all constituencies will hold elections, making it difficult to forecast a possible turnout. Six parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while dozens more parties and non-aligned contenders 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 banned. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's senior figures have been imprisoned under charges widely condemned as politically motivated, while the rest are in hiding abroad. International Condemnation "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. Nations in the West, including the United Kingdom and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a sham, while regional bloc Asean has called for political dialogue to precede any election. The Myanmar regime has dismissed criticism of the polls, insisting that it aims to "restore a multi-party democratic system". "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 told a news conference last week. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "the path to democracy".
The country's military is conducting a phased vote over the coming weeks. The nation is holding an election in a vote widely dismissed as a farce, with key opposition groups dissolved, many of their leaders 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 holding a phased ballot nearly five years after it seized power in a coup, which ignited widespread opposition and escalated into a devastating conflict. Observers say the military regime, with backing from Beijing, is seeking to legitimise and consolidate its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating deadlock. "The environment does not allow for the exercise of the rights of freedom of expression, association or peaceful protest," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said. More than 200 people have been prosecuted for disrupting or criticising the election under a new law which imposes severe punishments, 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 seven-year jail term after speaking out against a film promoting the elections. Immense Challenges and Coercion Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, adding that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats urging people to boycott the polls. The army has been engaged on several fronts, against both armed resistance groups who reject 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 regained 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 opposition control presents a massive operational hurdle for conducting an election. A Restricted Poll The ballot is set to take place in three phases over the coming weeks in 274 of the country's 330 townships, with the remainder deemed not secure enough. Outcomes are expected by late January. There is unlikely to be any voting in as much as one half of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, not all constituencies will hold elections, making it difficult to forecast a possible turnout. Six parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while dozens more parties and non-aligned contenders 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 banned. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's senior figures have been imprisoned under charges widely condemned as politically motivated, while the rest are in hiding abroad. International Condemnation "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. Nations in the West, including the United Kingdom and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a sham, while regional bloc Asean has called for political dialogue to precede any election. The Myanmar regime has dismissed criticism of the polls, insisting that it aims to "restore a multi-party democratic system". "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 told a news conference last week. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "the path to democracy".