War-torn Burma Goes to the Polls in Widely Criticised Political Theater.

The nation is holding an election in a vote widely dismissed as a sham, with major political parties dissolved, numerous figures imprisoned and as much as half of the country unable to participate because of an continuing civil war.

A Staggered Vote Amid Conflict

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

Analysts note the junta, with China's support, is attempting to validate and consolidate its power as it looks for a way out of the costly stalemate.

"The environment does not allow for the practice of the freedoms of freedom of expression, assembly or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated.

More than 200 people have been charged for disrupting or opposing the polls under a new law which carries harsh penalties, including the death penalty.

Film director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals found guilty 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 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 oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations 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 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 logistical challenge for holding an election.

A Restricted Poll

The ballot 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 too unstable. Outcomes 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, not all constituencies will go to the polls, making it challenging to forecast a possible 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 local levels.

Some 40 parties, 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 key leaders have been imprisoned under charges widely condemned as fabricated, while the rest are in hiding abroad.

International Condemnation

"Through dividing 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 representative of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts.

Western governments, including the United Kingdom and the EU legislature, have rejected the vote as a pretence, while neighbouring group Asean has called for political dialogue to precede any election.

The Myanmar regime has rejected condemnation of the polls, insisting that it aims to "return [the country] to a multi-party democratic system".

"The election is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the citizens of Myanmar. It is not intended for the outside world," a junta spokesman stated at a news conference last week.

Military leader Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are rejecting "the path to democracy".