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

The nation is holding an election in a vote widely dismissed as a sham, with key opposition groups banned, many of their leaders jailed and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an ongoing civil war.

A Staggered Vote Amid Conflict

The military government is holding a phased ballot nearly half a decade after it seized power in a takeover, which sparked massive protests and escalated into a devastating conflict.

Analysts note 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.

"The environment does not allow for the exercise of the rights of free speech, assembly or peaceful protest," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated.

Over two hundred people have been charged for disrupting or opposing the election under a recently enacted legislation which imposes 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 enacted in July. They were each handed a seven-year jail term after speaking out against a film promoting the elections.

Immense Challenges and Coercion

Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk said in a statement, pointing out that resistance forces have made warnings asking people to boycott the polls.

The military has been fighting on several fronts, against both pro-democracy fighters who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armies which have their own forces. It lost control of vast areas of the country in a string of defeats, 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 logistical challenge for conducting an election.

A Limited Vote

Voting is set to take place in three rounds over the next month in 274 of the country's 330 townships, with the rest deemed too unstable. Results are expected by late January.

There is unlikely to be any voting in as much as one half 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 junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while another 51 parties and independent candidates will contest 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 dissolved. 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.

International Condemnation

"By splitting the vote into phases, the junta can change their approach if the outcomes in the first phase do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts.

Nations in the West, including the UK and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a sham, while regional bloc Asean has urged negotiations to come before any election.

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

"This vote is being held for our nation. It is being held for the citizens of Myanmar. It is not intended for the international community," a military representative stated at a briefing last week.

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