🔗 Share this article War-torn Myanmar Goes to the Polls in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election. The country's junta is conducting a phased election over the coming weeks. The nation is holding an election in a vote broadly rejected as a sham, with key opposition groups banned, many of their leaders jailed and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an ongoing internal conflict. A Staggered Vote Amid War The military government is conducting a staggered election nearly half a decade after it seized power in a takeover, which ignited massive protests and spiralled into a devastating conflict. Observers say the junta, with China's support, is attempting to validate and entrench its power as it seeks a way out of the costly deadlock. "There are no conditions for the exercise of the freedoms of freedom of expression, association or peaceful protest," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said. Over two hundred people have been charged for disrupting or criticising the election 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 enacted in July. They were each handed a seven-year jail term after speaking out against a promotional video endorsing the elections. Logistical Nightmare and Coercion Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a statement, pointing out that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats asking people to shun 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 clawed back territory this year after sustained aerial bombardment enabled by support from Beijing and Moscow. All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under opposition control presents a huge logistical challenge for conducting an election. A Limited Vote The ballot is set to take place in three rounds over the next month 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 not expected 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. Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while dozens more parties and non-aligned contenders will contest only at the local levels. Some 40 parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which achieved landslide victories in 2015 and 2020, have been banned. Suu Kyi and many of the party's key leaders have been imprisoned under charges broadly viewed as politically motivated, while the rest are in exile. International Condemnation "By splitting the vote into stages, the junta can adjust tactics if the results in the first phase do not go their way," commented 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 sham, while regional bloc Asean has urged negotiations to precede any election. The Burmese junta has dismissed condemnation of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "return [the country] to a democracy with multiple parties". "This vote is being held for our nation. It is being held for the citizens 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 "the path to democracy".
The country's junta is conducting a phased election over the coming weeks. The nation is holding an election in a vote broadly rejected as a sham, with key opposition groups banned, many of their leaders jailed and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an ongoing internal conflict. A Staggered Vote Amid War The military government is conducting a staggered election nearly half a decade after it seized power in a takeover, which ignited massive protests and spiralled into a devastating conflict. Observers say the junta, with China's support, is attempting to validate and entrench its power as it seeks a way out of the costly deadlock. "There are no conditions for the exercise of the freedoms of freedom of expression, association or peaceful protest," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said. Over two hundred people have been charged for disrupting or criticising the election 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 enacted in July. They were each handed a seven-year jail term after speaking out against a promotional video endorsing the elections. Logistical Nightmare and Coercion Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a statement, pointing out that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats asking people to shun 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 clawed back territory this year after sustained aerial bombardment enabled by support from Beijing and Moscow. All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under opposition control presents a huge logistical challenge for conducting an election. A Limited Vote The ballot is set to take place in three rounds over the next month 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 not expected 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. Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while dozens more parties and non-aligned contenders will contest only at the local levels. Some 40 parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which achieved landslide victories in 2015 and 2020, have been banned. Suu Kyi and many of the party's key leaders have been imprisoned under charges broadly viewed as politically motivated, while the rest are in exile. International Condemnation "By splitting the vote into stages, the junta can adjust tactics if the results in the first phase do not go their way," commented 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 sham, while regional bloc Asean has urged negotiations to precede any election. The Burmese junta has dismissed condemnation of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "return [the country] to a democracy with multiple parties". "This vote is being held for our nation. It is being held for the citizens 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 "the path to democracy".