Conflict-ravaged Burma Votes in Widely Criticised Political Theater.

The nation is holding an election in a vote broadly rejected as a farce, with key opposition groups banned, numerous figures jailed and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing internal conflict.

A Staggered Vote Amid Conflict

The ruling junta is holding a staggered election nearly five years after it seized power in a coup, which sparked massive protests and escalated into a devastating conflict.

Analysts note the military regime, with backing from Beijing, is seeking to legitimise and entrench its power as it looks for a way out of the costly deadlock.

"There are no conditions for the practice of the freedoms of free speech, association or peaceful protest," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk stated.

Over two hundred people have been charged for disrupting or criticising the election under a new law which carries severe punishments, including the possibility of execution.

Film director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals convicted under the law, which was passed in July. They were each given a prison sentence of seven years after speaking out against a film endorsing the elections.

Logistical Nightmare and Pressure

Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, pointing out that armed rebel groups have made warnings urging people to shun the polls.

The army 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 ceded territory of vast areas of the country in a string of defeats, but clawed back territory this year after relentless airstrikes 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 huge logistical challenge for holding an election.

A Limited Vote

The ballot is set to take place in three phases over the next month in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the rest deemed not secure enough. 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 difficult to predict a likely turnout.

Six parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while dozens more parties and non-aligned contenders will compete only at the state or regional levels.

Approximately forty groups, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which scored landslide victories in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and many of the party's key leaders have been imprisoned under charges widely condemned as politically motivated, while the rest are in exile.

International Condemnation

"Through dividing the vote into phases, the junta can adjust tactics if the results in the first phase do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts.

Western governments, including the UK and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a pretence, while neighbouring group Asean has urged negotiations to come before any election.

The Myanmar regime has dismissed condemnation of the polls, insisting that it aims to "restore a multi-party democratic system".

"The election is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the people of this country. It is not intended for the international community," a junta spokesman told a news conference last week.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are turning their back on "progress toward democracy".