🔗 Share this article War-torn Burma Votes in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election. Myanmar's junta is conducting a staggered vote over the next month. The nation is holding an election in a electoral process broadly rejected as a sham, with major political parties dissolved, many of their leaders jailed 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 seized power in a takeover, which ignited widespread opposition and spiralled into a civil war. Observers say the junta, with China's support, is seeking to legitimise and entrench its power as it looks for a way out of the costly deadlock. "The environment does not allow for the practice of the rights of freedom of expression, association or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated. More than 200 people have been charged for interfering with or opposing the polls under a recently enacted legislation which carries harsh penalties, 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 passed in July. They were each given a seven-year jail term after speaking out against a promotional video promoting the elections. Logistical Nightmare and Coercion Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a statement, pointing out that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats asking people to shun the polls. The military has been fighting on several fronts, against both armed resistance groups who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own forces. It lost control of large parts of the country in a series of major setbacks, but clawed back territory this year following relentless airstrikes made possible through support from China and Russia. All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under opposition control presents a huge logistical challenge for conducting an election. A Limited Vote The ballot is set to take place in three rounds over the coming weeks in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 townships, with the rest deemed too unstable. Results are expected by late 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, some districts will hold elections, making it challenging to predict a possible turnout. A handful of parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees 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 scored 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 others are in hiding abroad. Criticism and Rejection "By splitting the vote into phases, the authorities can change their approach if the results in the first phase do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts. Nations in the West, including the UK and the EU legislature, have rejected the vote as a pretence, while neighbouring group Asean has called for negotiations to come before any election. The Myanmar regime has rejected criticism of the polls, insisting 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 people of Myanmar. It is not being held for the international community," 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 rejecting "the path to democracy".
Myanmar's junta is conducting a staggered vote over the next month. The nation is holding an election in a electoral process broadly rejected as a sham, with major political parties dissolved, many of their leaders jailed 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 seized power in a takeover, which ignited widespread opposition and spiralled into a civil war. Observers say the junta, with China's support, is seeking to legitimise and entrench its power as it looks for a way out of the costly deadlock. "The environment does not allow for the practice of the rights of freedom of expression, association or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated. More than 200 people have been charged for interfering with or opposing the polls under a recently enacted legislation which carries harsh penalties, 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 passed in July. They were each given a seven-year jail term after speaking out against a promotional video promoting the elections. Logistical Nightmare and Coercion Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a statement, pointing out that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats asking people to shun the polls. The military has been fighting on several fronts, against both armed resistance groups who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own forces. It lost control of large parts of the country in a series of major setbacks, but clawed back territory this year following relentless airstrikes made possible through support from China and Russia. All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under opposition control presents a huge logistical challenge for conducting an election. A Limited Vote The ballot is set to take place in three rounds over the coming weeks in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 townships, with the rest deemed too unstable. Results are expected by late 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, some districts will hold elections, making it challenging to predict a possible turnout. A handful of parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees 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 scored 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 others are in hiding abroad. Criticism and Rejection "By splitting the vote into phases, the authorities can change their approach if the results in the first phase do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts. Nations in the West, including the UK and the EU legislature, have rejected the vote as a pretence, while neighbouring group Asean has called for negotiations to come before any election. The Myanmar regime has rejected criticism of the polls, insisting 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 people of Myanmar. It is not being held for the international community," 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 rejecting "the path to democracy".