War-torn Burma Goes to the Polls in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election.

Myanmar is going to the polls in a electoral process widely dismissed as a farce, with major political parties dissolved, numerous figures imprisoned and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing internal conflict.

A Phased Ballot Amid Conflict

The military government is conducting a staggered election nearly half a decade after it took control in a takeover, which ignited widespread opposition and spiralled into a devastating conflict.

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

"There are no conditions for the practice of the freedoms of freedom of expression, association or peaceful protest," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk said.

Over two hundred people have been prosecuted for disrupting or criticising the election under a recently enacted legislation which imposes severe punishments, including the possibility of execution.

Director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals found guilty under the law, which was enacted in July. They were each given a seven-year jail term after speaking out against a film promoting the elections.

Logistical Nightmare and Coercion

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

The army has been fighting on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armies which have their own forces. It lost control of vast areas of the country in a string of defeats, but regained territory this year following relentless airstrikes made possible through support from China and Russia.

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

A Limited Vote

Voting is set to take place in three phases over the next month in 274 of the country's 330 townships, with the remainder deemed too unstable. Results are expected around the end of January.

There is unlikely to be any voting in as much as one half of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, not all constituencies will hold elections, making it difficult to predict a likely turnout.

Six parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while dozens more parties and independent candidates 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 a number of the party's senior figures have been jailed under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while the rest are in exile.

International Condemnation

"Through dividing the vote into stages, the authorities can change their approach if the outcomes 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 European Parliament, have rejected the vote as a pretence, while regional bloc Asean has urged political dialogue to come before any election.

The Burmese junta has dismissed 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 intended for the outside world," a junta spokesman told a news conference last week.

Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "the path to democracy".