War-torn Myanmar Goes to the Polls in Widely Criticised Political Theater.

Myanmar is going to the polls in a vote broadly rejected as a sham, with major political parties banned, many of their leaders jailed and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an continuing civil war.

A Phased Ballot Amid Conflict

The ruling junta is holding a phased ballot nearly half a decade after it seized power in a takeover, which sparked widespread opposition and escalated into a devastating conflict.

Analysts note the junta, with backing from Beijing, is attempting to validate and consolidate its power as it seeks a way out of the devastating stalemate.

"There are no conditions for the practice of the rights of free speech, assembly or peaceful protest," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk said.

More than 200 people have been charged for disrupting or criticising the election under a recently enacted legislation which imposes severe punishments, including the possibility of execution.

Film director Mike Tee, actor 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 speaking out against a promotional video endorsing the elections.

Immense Challenges and Coercion

Civilians are "being coerced 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 several fronts, against both armed resistance groups who oppose 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 relentless airstrikes enabled by support from China and Russia.

All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under rebel administration presents a massive operational hurdle for holding an election.

A Restricted Poll

Voting is set to take place in three phases over the next month in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the rest deemed too unstable. 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 predict a likely turnout.

Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while dozens more parties and independent candidates will contest only at the local levels.

Approximately forty groups, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which achieved landslide victories in 2015 and 2020, have been banned. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's key leaders have been jailed under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while others are in exile.

Criticism and Rejection

"Through dividing the vote into stages, the junta can change their approach if the outcomes in the first phase do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a representative of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts.

Western governments, including the UK and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a sham, while neighbouring group Asean has called for political dialogue to precede any election.

The Myanmar regime has rejected criticism of the polls, insisting 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 Myanmar. It is not being held for the international community," a junta spokesman told a briefing last week.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are turning their back on "progress toward democracy".