🔗 Share this article War-torn Burma Votes in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election. The country's military is holding a staggered vote over the coming weeks. The nation is holding an election in a electoral process broadly rejected as a sham, with major political parties dissolved, numerous figures jailed and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an continuing internal conflict. A Staggered Vote Amid Conflict The military government is holding a phased ballot nearly five years after it took control in a takeover, which ignited widespread opposition and escalated into a civil war. Observers say the military regime, with China's support, is seeking to legitimise and entrench its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating deadlock. "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 disrupting or opposing the election under a recently enacted legislation which carries severe punishments, including the death penalty. Director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals convicted under the law, which was passed 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 "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, adding that armed rebel groups have made warnings urging people to boycott the polls. The military has been engaged on multiple battlefields, against both pro-democracy fighters who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own forces. It lost control of vast areas of the country in a series of major setbacks, but regained territory this year after sustained aerial bombardment 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 massive operational hurdle for holding an election. A Restricted Poll Voting is set to take place in three rounds over the next month in 274 of the country's 330 townships, with the remainder deemed too unstable. Results are expected around the end of 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 go to the polls, making it challenging to predict a possible turnout. A handful of parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while dozens more 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 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 politically motivated, while others 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 representative of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts. Nations in the West, including the UK and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a pretence, while regional bloc Asean has urged political dialogue to precede any election. The Burmese junta has dismissed 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 junta spokesman told a briefing last week. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "the path to democracy".
The country's military is holding a staggered vote over the coming weeks. The nation is holding an election in a electoral process broadly rejected as a sham, with major political parties dissolved, numerous figures jailed and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an continuing internal conflict. A Staggered Vote Amid Conflict The military government is holding a phased ballot nearly five years after it took control in a takeover, which ignited widespread opposition and escalated into a civil war. Observers say the military regime, with China's support, is seeking to legitimise and entrench its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating deadlock. "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 disrupting or opposing the election under a recently enacted legislation which carries severe punishments, including the death penalty. Director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals convicted under the law, which was passed 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 "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, adding that armed rebel groups have made warnings urging people to boycott the polls. The military has been engaged on multiple battlefields, against both pro-democracy fighters who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own forces. It lost control of vast areas of the country in a series of major setbacks, but regained territory this year after sustained aerial bombardment 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 massive operational hurdle for holding an election. A Restricted Poll Voting is set to take place in three rounds over the next month in 274 of the country's 330 townships, with the remainder deemed too unstable. Results are expected around the end of 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 go to the polls, making it challenging to predict a possible turnout. A handful of parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while dozens more 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 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 politically motivated, while others 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 representative of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts. Nations in the West, including the UK and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a pretence, while regional bloc Asean has urged political dialogue to precede any election. The Burmese junta has dismissed 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 junta spokesman told a briefing last week. Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "the path to democracy".