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

The nation is holding an election in a vote broadly rejected as a sham, with key opposition groups dissolved, many of their leaders jailed and as much as half of the country unlikely to vote because of an continuing civil war.

A Staggered Vote Amid War

The ruling junta is conducting a phased ballot nearly half a decade after it took control in a takeover, which sparked massive protests and escalated into a devastating conflict.

Observers say the military regime, with China's support, is seeking to legitimise and entrench its power as it seeks a way out of the costly deadlock.

"There are no conditions for the exercise of the freedoms of freedom of expression, association or peaceful protest," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said.

Over two hundred people have been prosecuted for interfering with 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 found guilty under the law, which was enacted in July. They were each handed a seven-year jail term after speaking out against a promotional video promoting the elections.

Immense Challenges and Pressure

Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk said in a statement, adding that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats urging people to shun the polls.

The military has been fighting on multiple battlefields, against both pro-democracy fighters who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armies which have their own militias. It lost control of large parts of the country in a string of defeats, but clawed back territory this year after 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 conducting an election.

A Limited Vote

Voting is set to take place in three rounds over the coming weeks in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 townships, with the remainder deemed too unstable. Outcomes are expected around the end of January.

There is not expected to be any voting in up to fifty percent of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, some districts will hold elections, making it difficult to forecast a possible turnout.

Six parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while another 51 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 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 politically motivated, while the rest are in hiding abroad.

International Condemnation

"By splitting the vote into phases, the junta can change their approach if the results in the first phase do not go their way," commented 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 neighbouring group Asean has urged negotiations to come before any election.

The Burmese junta has dismissed condemnation of the polls, insisting that it aims to "return [the country] to 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 being held for the international community," a military representative told a briefing last week.

Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "progress toward democracy".