🔗 Share this article Conflict-ravaged Burma Votes in Broadly Condemned Political Theater. The country's junta is conducting a staggered election over the coming weeks. The nation is holding an election in a vote widely dismissed as a sham, with major political parties banned, many of their leaders imprisoned 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 conducting a staggered election nearly five years after it took control in a coup, which ignited massive protests and spiralled into a civil war. 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 costly deadlock. "There are no conditions for the practice of the rights of free speech, association or peaceful assembly," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said. More than 200 people have been prosecuted for interfering with or opposing the polls under a new law which imposes severe punishments, including the possibility of execution. Film 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 handed a seven-year jail term after criticising a film endorsing the elections. Immense Challenges and Pressure Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, pointing out that armed rebel groups have made warnings urging people to boycott the polls. The army has been engaged on several fronts, against both pro-democracy fighters who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own militias. It ceded territory of vast areas of the country in a series of major setbacks, but regained territory this year following relentless airstrikes made possible through support from China and Russia. All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under opposition control presents a huge operational hurdle for conducting an election. A Restricted Poll The ballot is set to take place in three rounds over the coming weeks in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the remainder 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, some districts will hold elections, making it challenging to forecast a likely turnout. Six parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while dozens more parties and non-aligned contenders will compete only at the state or regional levels. Some 40 parties, 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 key leaders have been jailed under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while others are in exile. International Condemnation "By splitting the vote into phases, the junta can change their approach if the results in the initial round do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts. Nations in the West, including the United Kingdom and the EU legislature, have rejected the vote as a pretence, while neighbouring group Asean has called for political dialogue to come before any election. The Myanmar regime has rejected condemnation of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "return [the country] to a multi-party democratic system". "The election is being held for our nation. It is being held for the citizens of this country. It is not intended for the outside world," a junta spokesman stated at a news conference last week. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "progress toward democracy".
The country's junta is conducting a staggered election over the coming weeks. The nation is holding an election in a vote widely dismissed as a sham, with major political parties banned, many of their leaders imprisoned 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 conducting a staggered election nearly five years after it took control in a coup, which ignited massive protests and spiralled into a civil war. 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 costly deadlock. "There are no conditions for the practice of the rights of free speech, association or peaceful assembly," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said. More than 200 people have been prosecuted for interfering with or opposing the polls under a new law which imposes severe punishments, including the possibility of execution. Film 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 handed a seven-year jail term after criticising a film endorsing the elections. Immense Challenges and Pressure Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, pointing out that armed rebel groups have made warnings urging people to boycott the polls. The army has been engaged on several fronts, against both pro-democracy fighters who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own militias. It ceded territory of vast areas of the country in a series of major setbacks, but regained territory this year following relentless airstrikes made possible through support from China and Russia. All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under opposition control presents a huge operational hurdle for conducting an election. A Restricted Poll The ballot is set to take place in three rounds over the coming weeks in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the remainder 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, some districts will hold elections, making it challenging to forecast a likely turnout. Six parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while dozens more parties and non-aligned contenders will compete only at the state or regional levels. Some 40 parties, 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 key leaders have been jailed under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while others are in exile. International Condemnation "By splitting the vote into phases, the junta can change their approach if the results in the initial round do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts. Nations in the West, including the United Kingdom and the EU legislature, have rejected the vote as a pretence, while neighbouring group Asean has called for political dialogue to come before any election. The Myanmar regime has rejected condemnation of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "return [the country] to a multi-party democratic system". "The election is being held for our nation. It is being held for the citizens of this country. It is not intended for the outside world," a junta spokesman stated at a news conference last week. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "progress toward democracy".