🔗 Share this article War-torn Myanmar Votes in Broadly Condemned 'Sham' Election. Myanmar's junta is conducting a staggered vote over the next month. Myanmar is going to the polls in a electoral process broadly rejected as a sham, with key opposition groups banned, many of their leaders jailed and as much as half of the country unlikely to vote because of an continuing internal conflict. A Staggered Vote Amid War The ruling junta is holding a phased ballot nearly half a decade after it took control in a coup, which sparked massive protests and escalated into a devastating conflict. Observers say the military regime, with China's support, is seeking to legitimise and consolidate its power as it seeks a way out of the devastating stalemate. "The environment does not allow for the exercise of the freedoms of free speech, assembly or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk said. Over two hundred people have been charged for interfering with or criticising the polls under a new law which carries severe punishments, including the possibility of execution. Director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures convicted under the law, which was passed in July. They were each handed a prison sentence of seven years after speaking out against a promotional video promoting the elections. Immense Challenges and Coercion Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk said in a comment, pointing out that resistance forces have made warnings asking people to boycott the polls. The military has been fighting 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 regained territory this year after 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 conducting an election. A Limited Vote The ballot is set to take place in three phases over the next month in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 townships, with the remainder deemed not secure enough. Results 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 possible turnout. A handful of 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 banned. 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 authorities can adjust tactics if the results in the initial round do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts. Western governments, including the UK and the EU legislature, have dismissed the vote as a pretence, while neighbouring group Asean has urged negotiations to precede 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 citizens of Myanmar. It is not being held for the international community," a junta spokesman told a briefing last week. Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "progress toward democracy".
Myanmar's junta is conducting a staggered vote over the next month. Myanmar is going to the polls in a electoral process broadly rejected as a sham, with key opposition groups banned, many of their leaders jailed and as much as half of the country unlikely to vote because of an continuing internal conflict. A Staggered Vote Amid War The ruling junta is holding a phased ballot nearly half a decade after it took control in a coup, which sparked massive protests and escalated into a devastating conflict. Observers say the military regime, with China's support, is seeking to legitimise and consolidate its power as it seeks a way out of the devastating stalemate. "The environment does not allow for the exercise of the freedoms of free speech, assembly or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk said. Over two hundred people have been charged for interfering with or criticising the polls under a new law which carries severe punishments, including the possibility of execution. Director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures convicted under the law, which was passed in July. They were each handed a prison sentence of seven years after speaking out against a promotional video promoting the elections. Immense Challenges and Coercion Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk said in a comment, pointing out that resistance forces have made warnings asking people to boycott the polls. The military has been fighting 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 regained territory this year after 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 conducting an election. A Limited Vote The ballot is set to take place in three phases over the next month in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 townships, with the remainder deemed not secure enough. Results 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 possible turnout. A handful of 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 banned. 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 authorities can adjust tactics if the results in the initial round do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts. Western governments, including the UK and the EU legislature, have dismissed the vote as a pretence, while neighbouring group Asean has urged negotiations to precede 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 citizens of Myanmar. It is not being held for the international community," a junta spokesman told a briefing last week. Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "progress toward democracy".