🔗 Share this article Conflict-ravaged Burma Goes to the Polls in Broadly Condemned Political Theater. The country's junta is holding a staggered election over the next month. The nation is holding an election in a vote broadly rejected as a farce, with key opposition groups banned, many of their leaders imprisoned and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing civil war. A Staggered Vote Amid War The military government is conducting a phased ballot nearly half a decade after it seized power in a takeover, which sparked massive protests and escalated into a civil war. Analysts note the military regime, with backing from Beijing, is attempting to validate and entrench its power as it seeks a way out of the devastating stalemate. "The environment does not allow for the exercise of the freedoms of freedom of expression, association or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated. Over two hundred people have been prosecuted for disrupting or opposing the election under a new law which carries severe punishments, including the death penalty. Film director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures found guilty under the law, which was passed 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 said in a comment, adding that resistance forces have made warnings urging people to boycott the polls. The military has been fighting on several fronts, 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 series of major setbacks, but clawed back territory this year after relentless airstrikes enabled by support from Beijing and Moscow. All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under rebel administration presents a massive logistical challenge for conducting an election. A Limited Vote Voting is set to take place in three rounds over the next month in 274 of the country's 330 townships, with the rest 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 hold elections, making it challenging to forecast a possible turnout. Six parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while another 51 parties and non-aligned contenders will compete only at the state or regional levels. Approximately forty groups, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which achieved decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been banned. Suu Kyi and many of the party's key leaders have been jailed under charges widely condemned as fabricated, while the rest are in exile. Criticism and Rejection "Through dividing the vote into stages, the junta can change their approach if the results in the first phase do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts. Western governments, including the United Kingdom and the EU legislature, have rejected the vote as a pretence, while neighbouring group Asean has urged negotiations to come before any election. The Myanmar regime has rejected criticism of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "return [the country] to 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 military representative stated at a news conference last week. Military leader Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "the path to democracy".
The country's junta is holding a staggered election over the next month. The nation is holding an election in a vote broadly rejected as a farce, with key opposition groups banned, many of their leaders imprisoned and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing civil war. A Staggered Vote Amid War The military government is conducting a phased ballot nearly half a decade after it seized power in a takeover, which sparked massive protests and escalated into a civil war. Analysts note the military regime, with backing from Beijing, is attempting to validate and entrench its power as it seeks a way out of the devastating stalemate. "The environment does not allow for the exercise of the freedoms of freedom of expression, association or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated. Over two hundred people have been prosecuted for disrupting or opposing the election under a new law which carries severe punishments, including the death penalty. Film director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures found guilty under the law, which was passed 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 said in a comment, adding that resistance forces have made warnings urging people to boycott the polls. The military has been fighting on several fronts, 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 series of major setbacks, but clawed back territory this year after relentless airstrikes enabled by support from Beijing and Moscow. All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under rebel administration presents a massive logistical challenge for conducting an election. A Limited Vote Voting is set to take place in three rounds over the next month in 274 of the country's 330 townships, with the rest 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 hold elections, making it challenging to forecast a possible turnout. Six parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while another 51 parties and non-aligned contenders will compete only at the state or regional levels. Approximately forty groups, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which achieved decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been banned. Suu Kyi and many of the party's key leaders have been jailed under charges widely condemned as fabricated, while the rest are in exile. Criticism and Rejection "Through dividing the vote into stages, the junta can change their approach if the results in the first phase do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts. Western governments, including the United Kingdom and the EU legislature, have rejected the vote as a pretence, while neighbouring group Asean has urged negotiations to come before any election. The Myanmar regime has rejected criticism of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "return [the country] to 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 military representative stated at a news conference last week. Military leader Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "the path to democracy".