🔗 Share this article War-torn Burma Goes to the Polls in Broadly Condemned '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 dissolved, numerous figures imprisoned and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing internal conflict. A Staggered Vote Amid Conflict The ruling junta is conducting a staggered election nearly half a decade after it seized power in a takeover, which ignited widespread opposition and escalated into a devastating conflict. Analysts note the junta, with China's support, is attempting to validate and consolidate its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating stalemate. "The environment does not allow for the exercise of the rights of free speech, assembly or peaceful protest," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated. More than 200 people have been prosecuted for disrupting or opposing the polls under a recently enacted legislation which imposes severe punishments, including the possibility of execution. Director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures found guilty under the law, which was enacted in July. They were each handed a prison sentence of seven years after criticising a film promoting the elections. Immense Challenges and Coercion Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, pointing out that resistance forces have made warnings asking people to shun the polls. The military has been fighting on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who reject 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 clawed back territory this year after relentless airstrikes made possible through support from Beijing and Moscow. All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under rebel administration presents a massive logistical challenge for conducting an election. A Restricted Poll Voting is set to take place in three rounds over the next month in 274 of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the rest deemed too unstable. Outcomes are expected around the end of January. There is not expected to be any voting in as much as one half of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, not all constituencies will go to the polls, making it difficult to forecast a likely turnout. A handful of parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while another 51 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 achieved 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 fabricated, while the rest are in hiding abroad. Criticism and Rejection "By splitting the vote into stages, the junta can change their approach if the outcomes in the initial round do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a representative 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 called for political dialogue to come before any election. The Myanmar regime has dismissed condemnation of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "return [the country] to a democracy with multiple parties". "The election is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the people of this country. It is not being held for the international community," a junta spokesman stated at a briefing last week. Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are rejecting "progress toward 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 dissolved, numerous figures imprisoned and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing internal conflict. A Staggered Vote Amid Conflict The ruling junta is conducting a staggered election nearly half a decade after it seized power in a takeover, which ignited widespread opposition and escalated into a devastating conflict. Analysts note the junta, with China's support, is attempting to validate and consolidate its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating stalemate. "The environment does not allow for the exercise of the rights of free speech, assembly or peaceful protest," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated. More than 200 people have been prosecuted for disrupting or opposing the polls under a recently enacted legislation which imposes severe punishments, including the possibility of execution. Director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures found guilty under the law, which was enacted in July. They were each handed a prison sentence of seven years after criticising a film promoting the elections. Immense Challenges and Coercion Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, pointing out that resistance forces have made warnings asking people to shun the polls. The military has been fighting on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who reject 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 clawed back territory this year after relentless airstrikes made possible through support from Beijing and Moscow. All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under rebel administration presents a massive logistical challenge for conducting an election. A Restricted Poll Voting is set to take place in three rounds over the next month in 274 of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the rest deemed too unstable. Outcomes are expected around the end of January. There is not expected to be any voting in as much as one half of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, not all constituencies will go to the polls, making it difficult to forecast a likely turnout. A handful of parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while another 51 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 achieved 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 fabricated, while the rest are in hiding abroad. Criticism and Rejection "By splitting the vote into stages, the junta can change their approach if the outcomes in the initial round do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a representative 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 called for political dialogue to come before any election. The Myanmar regime has dismissed condemnation of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "return [the country] to a democracy with multiple parties". "The election is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the people of this country. It is not being held for the international community," a junta spokesman stated at a briefing last week. Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are rejecting "progress toward democracy".