Conflict-ravaged Burma Votes in Broadly Condemned 'Sham' Election.

The nation is holding an election in a vote broadly rejected as a sham, with key opposition groups banned, 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 holding a staggered election nearly five years after it seized power in a takeover, which sparked widespread opposition and spiralled into a civil war.

Observers say the junta, with backing from Beijing, is seeking to legitimise and entrench its power as it seeks a way out of the costly stalemate.

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

More than 200 people have been charged for disrupting or criticising the polls under a recently enacted legislation which imposes severe punishments, including the death penalty.

Film director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures found guilty under the law, which was passed in July. They were each handed a seven-year jail term after speaking out against a film endorsing 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 boycott the polls.

The army has been fighting on multiple battlefields, 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 regained territory this year following relentless airstrikes enabled by support from China and Russia.

All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under opposition control presents a massive operational hurdle for holding an election.

A Limited Vote

The ballot is set to take place in three phases over the coming weeks in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the remainder deemed not secure enough. 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, not all constituencies will go to the polls, making it difficult to predict a likely turnout.

A handful of parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while dozens more parties and independent candidates will contest only at the state or regional levels.

Approximately forty groups, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which achieved decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been banned. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's key leaders have been imprisoned under charges broadly viewed as politically motivated, while others are in hiding abroad.

Criticism and Rejection

"Through dividing the vote into stages, the authorities can change their approach if the outcomes in the initial round do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a representative of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts.

Western governments, including the UK and the EU legislature, have dismissed the vote as a sham, while neighbouring group Asean has called for political dialogue to come before any election.

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

"This vote is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the people of Myanmar. It is not intended for the outside world," a junta spokesman stated at a briefing last week.

Military leader Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "the path to democracy".