🔗 Share this article Conflict-ravaged Myanmar Goes to the Polls in Broadly Condemned 'Sham' Election. The country's junta is conducting a phased vote over the coming weeks. The nation is holding an election in a electoral process widely dismissed as a farce, with major political parties banned, numerous figures jailed and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an continuing civil war. A Staggered Vote Amid Conflict The ruling junta is conducting a staggered election nearly five years after it took control in a takeover, which sparked massive protests and escalated into a devastating conflict. Analysts note the junta, 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 free speech, assembly or peaceful protest," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said. More than 200 people have been prosecuted for interfering with or criticising the polls under a new law which carries severe punishments, 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 handed a prison sentence of seven years after speaking out against a film endorsing the elections. Immense Challenges and Coercion Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk said in a statement, adding that resistance forces have made warnings urging 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 forces. It lost control of large parts of the country in a series of major setbacks, but regained territory this year following relentless airstrikes made possible through support from Beijing and Moscow. All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under opposition control presents a massive logistical challenge for conducting an election. A Limited Vote The ballot is set to take place in three phases over the coming weeks in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 townships, with the remainder deemed too unstable. Results are expected by late January. There is not expected 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 independent candidates will contest only at the state or regional levels. Some 40 parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which scored landslide victories in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and many of the party's key leaders have been imprisoned under charges broadly viewed as politically motivated, while others are in exile. International Condemnation "Through dividing the vote into phases, the authorities can change their approach if the outcomes in the initial round do not go their way," commented 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 sham, while neighbouring group Asean has urged negotiations to precede any election. The Burmese junta has dismissed criticism 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 Myanmar. It is not being held for the outside world," a military representative stated at a briefing last week. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "progress toward democracy".
The country's junta is conducting a phased vote over the coming weeks. The nation is holding an election in a electoral process widely dismissed as a farce, with major political parties banned, numerous figures jailed and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an continuing civil war. A Staggered Vote Amid Conflict The ruling junta is conducting a staggered election nearly five years after it took control in a takeover, which sparked massive protests and escalated into a devastating conflict. Analysts note the junta, 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 free speech, assembly or peaceful protest," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said. More than 200 people have been prosecuted for interfering with or criticising the polls under a new law which carries severe punishments, 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 handed a prison sentence of seven years after speaking out against a film endorsing the elections. Immense Challenges and Coercion Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk said in a statement, adding that resistance forces have made warnings urging 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 forces. It lost control of large parts of the country in a series of major setbacks, but regained territory this year following relentless airstrikes made possible through support from Beijing and Moscow. All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under opposition control presents a massive logistical challenge for conducting an election. A Limited Vote The ballot is set to take place in three phases over the coming weeks in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 townships, with the remainder deemed too unstable. Results are expected by late January. There is not expected 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 independent candidates will contest only at the state or regional levels. Some 40 parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which scored landslide victories in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and many of the party's key leaders have been imprisoned under charges broadly viewed as politically motivated, while others are in exile. International Condemnation "Through dividing the vote into phases, the authorities can change their approach if the outcomes in the initial round do not go their way," commented 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 sham, while neighbouring group Asean has urged negotiations to precede any election. The Burmese junta has dismissed criticism 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 Myanmar. It is not being held for the outside world," a military representative stated at a briefing last week. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "progress toward democracy".