War-torn Burma Goes to the Polls in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election.

Myanmar is going to the polls in a electoral process widely dismissed as a farce, with key opposition groups dissolved, numerous figures jailed and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an ongoing internal conflict.

A Staggered Vote Amid War

The military government is conducting a phased ballot nearly half a decade after it took control in a coup, which sparked widespread opposition and spiralled into a devastating conflict.

Analysts note the military regime, with backing from Beijing, is attempting to validate and entrench its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating stalemate.

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

More than 200 people have been prosecuted for interfering with or opposing the polls under a new law which imposes harsh penalties, including the death penalty.

Director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures convicted under the law, which was enacted in July. They were each handed a prison sentence of seven years after speaking out against a promotional video promoting the elections.

Immense Challenges and Pressure

Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a statement, adding that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats urging people to shun the polls.

The military has been engaged on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armies which have their own militias. 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 Beijing and Moscow.

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 Limited Vote

Voting is set to take place in three rounds 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, not all constituencies will hold elections, making it challenging to predict a possible turnout.

Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while another 51 parties and non-aligned contenders will compete 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 many of the party's senior figures have been jailed under charges widely condemned as politically motivated, while the rest are in exile.

International Condemnation

"By splitting the vote into stages, the authorities can change their approach if the results 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 United Kingdom and the EU legislature, have dismissed the vote as a pretence, while neighbouring group Asean has called for negotiations to precede 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".

"This vote is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the citizens of this country. It is not being held 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 rejecting "the path to democracy".