Conflict-ravaged Burma Goes to the Polls in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election.

Myanmar is going to the polls in a vote broadly rejected as a sham, with key opposition groups dissolved, many of their leaders jailed and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an ongoing civil war.

A Staggered Vote Amid Conflict

The ruling junta is conducting a phased ballot nearly half a decade after it seized power in a takeover, which ignited massive protests and spiralled into a devastating conflict.

Observers say the junta, with backing from Beijing, is attempting to validate and entrench its power as it looks for a way out of the costly deadlock.

"The environment does not allow for the exercise of the rights of freedom of expression, assembly or peaceful protest," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk stated.

Over two hundred people have been prosecuted for disrupting or opposing the polls under a recently enacted legislation which imposes 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 enacted in July. They were each given a prison sentence of seven years after criticising a promotional video promoting the elections.

Logistical Nightmare and Coercion

Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk said in a statement, adding that resistance forces have made warnings urging people to shun the polls.

The military has been fighting on several fronts, against both pro-democracy fighters who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armies which have their own forces. It ceded territory of large parts of the country in a string of defeats, but regained territory this year following relentless airstrikes made possible through 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

The ballot is set to take place in three phases over the coming weeks in 274 of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the remainder deemed not secure enough. Results are expected by late January.

There is unlikely 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 possible turnout.

A handful of parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while another 51 parties and non-aligned contenders will contest only at the state or regional 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 many of the party's key leaders have been imprisoned under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while the rest are in exile.

Criticism and Rejection

"By splitting the vote into stages, the authorities can adjust tactics if the results in the first phase do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts.

Western governments, including the United Kingdom and the EU legislature, have dismissed the vote as a pretence, while regional bloc Asean has urged political dialogue to come before any election.

The Burmese junta has rejected criticism of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "restore a democracy with multiple parties".

"This vote is being held for our nation. It is being held for the people of Myanmar. It is not being held for the outside world," a military representative stated at a briefing last week.

Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are turning their back on "the path to democracy".