🔗 Share this article Conflict-ravaged Myanmar Votes in Widely Criticised Political Theater. The country's junta is holding a phased vote over the next month. The nation is holding an election in a vote widely dismissed as a sham, with major political parties banned, numerous figures jailed and a significant portion of the country unlikely to vote because of an ongoing internal conflict. A Phased Ballot Amid War The military government is holding a phased ballot nearly five years after it took control in a coup, which ignited massive protests and escalated into a civil war. Analysts note the military regime, with China's support, is attempting to validate and entrench its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating deadlock. "There are no conditions for the practice of the rights of free speech, association or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk said. More than 200 people have been charged for disrupting or criticising the polls under a new law which imposes harsh penalties, including the death penalty. Director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals found guilty under the law, which was passed in July. They were each given a seven-year jail term after criticising a promotional video endorsing the elections. Immense Challenges and Pressure Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk said in a comment, pointing out that resistance forces have issued their own threats urging people to boycott the polls. The military has been engaged on several fronts, against both pro-democracy fighters who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armies 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 enabled by support from China and Russia. All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under rebel administration presents a massive operational hurdle for holding an election. A Limited Vote The ballot is set to take place in three rounds over the coming weeks 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 by late January. There is unlikely to be any voting in up to fifty percent of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, some districts will go to the polls, making it difficult to forecast a likely turnout. Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while dozens more parties and independent candidates will compete 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 fabricated, while the rest are in exile. International Condemnation "By splitting the vote into stages, the authorities can change their approach 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 United Kingdom and the EU legislature, have dismissed the vote as a sham, while regional bloc Asean has called for political dialogue to precede any election. The Burmese junta has rejected condemnation of the polls, insisting that it aims to "restore a democracy with multiple parties". "This vote is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the citizens of this country. It is not being held 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 "the path to democracy".
The country's junta is holding a phased vote over the next month. The nation is holding an election in a vote widely dismissed as a sham, with major political parties banned, numerous figures jailed and a significant portion of the country unlikely to vote because of an ongoing internal conflict. A Phased Ballot Amid War The military government is holding a phased ballot nearly five years after it took control in a coup, which ignited massive protests and escalated into a civil war. Analysts note the military regime, with China's support, is attempting to validate and entrench its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating deadlock. "There are no conditions for the practice of the rights of free speech, association or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk said. More than 200 people have been charged for disrupting or criticising the polls under a new law which imposes harsh penalties, including the death penalty. Director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals found guilty under the law, which was passed in July. They were each given a seven-year jail term after criticising a promotional video endorsing the elections. Immense Challenges and Pressure Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk said in a comment, pointing out that resistance forces have issued their own threats urging people to boycott the polls. The military has been engaged on several fronts, against both pro-democracy fighters who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armies 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 enabled by support from China and Russia. All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under rebel administration presents a massive operational hurdle for holding an election. A Limited Vote The ballot is set to take place in three rounds over the coming weeks 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 by late January. There is unlikely to be any voting in up to fifty percent of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, some districts will go to the polls, making it difficult to forecast a likely turnout. Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while dozens more parties and independent candidates will compete 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 fabricated, while the rest are in exile. International Condemnation "By splitting the vote into stages, the authorities can change their approach 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 United Kingdom and the EU legislature, have dismissed the vote as a sham, while regional bloc Asean has called for political dialogue to precede any election. The Burmese junta has rejected condemnation of the polls, insisting that it aims to "restore a democracy with multiple parties". "This vote is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the citizens of this country. It is not being held 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 "the path to democracy".