Conflict-ravaged Burma Goes to the Polls in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election.

Myanmar is going to the polls in a vote broadly rejected as a farce, with key opposition groups banned, many of their leaders jailed and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an continuing civil war.

A Staggered Vote Amid War

The ruling junta is conducting a staggered election nearly half a decade after it seized power in a coup, which ignited massive protests and spiralled into a civil war.

Analysts note the military regime, with China's support, is seeking to legitimise and consolidate its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating stalemate.

"The environment does not allow for the practice of the freedoms of freedom of expression, assembly or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated.

More than 200 people have been charged for interfering with or opposing the polls under a recently enacted legislation which carries severe punishments, including the death penalty.

Film director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals convicted under the law, which was passed in July. They were each handed a seven-year jail term after speaking out against a promotional video promoting the elections.

Logistical Nightmare and Coercion

Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a statement, adding that resistance forces have issued their own threats urging people to shun the polls.

The military has been fighting on several fronts, against both pro-democracy fighters who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own militias. It ceded territory of large parts of the country in a series of major setbacks, but regained territory this year following sustained aerial bombardment enabled by support from China and Russia.

All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under opposition control presents a huge operational hurdle for conducting an election.

A Restricted Poll

Voting 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 not secure enough. Outcomes 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 challenging to forecast a likely turnout.

Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while another 51 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 scored decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and many of the party's senior figures have been imprisoned under charges broadly viewed as politically motivated, while others are in exile.

Criticism and Rejection

"Through dividing the vote into phases, the junta can adjust tactics if the outcomes in the initial round do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a representative of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts.

Western governments, including the UK and the European Parliament, have rejected the vote as a pretence, while regional bloc Asean has called for political dialogue to come before any election.

The Myanmar regime has dismissed criticism 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 being held for the outside world," a junta spokesman stated at a news conference last week.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are rejecting "progress toward democracy".