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

The nation is holding an election in a electoral process broadly rejected as a farce, with key opposition groups banned, numerous figures jailed and as much as half of the country unlikely to vote because of an ongoing civil war.

A Staggered Vote Amid Conflict

The military government is conducting a staggered election nearly half a decade after it seized power in a takeover, which sparked widespread opposition and escalated into a devastating conflict.

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

"The environment does not allow for the exercise of the freedoms of freedom of expression, assembly or peaceful protest," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said.

More than 200 people have been charged for interfering with or criticising the election under a new law which carries harsh penalties, including the death penalty.

Film director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer 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.

Logistical Nightmare and Coercion

Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk said in a comment, adding that resistance forces have made warnings urging people to boycott the polls.

The military has been engaged on multiple battlefields, against both pro-democracy fighters who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own militias. It lost control of large parts of the country in a string of defeats, but regained territory this year after relentless airstrikes enabled by support from China and Russia.

All of this and the fact that large parts of the country are still under rebel administration presents a massive logistical challenge for holding an election.

A Restricted Poll

Voting is set to take place in three phases over the next month in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 townships, with the remainder deemed too unstable. Outcomes are expected by late January.

There is unlikely to be any voting in up to fifty percent of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, some districts will go to the polls, making it challenging to predict a likely turnout.

A handful of parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while another 51 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 scored landslide victories in 2015 and 2020, have been banned. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's senior figures have been imprisoned under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while the rest are in exile.

Criticism and Rejection

"Through dividing the vote into phases, the junta can change their approach if the results 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 United Kingdom and the EU legislature, have rejected the vote as a sham, while regional bloc Asean has urged political dialogue to precede any election.

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

"The election is being held for our nation. It is being held for the citizens of this country. It is not intended for the outside world," a junta spokesman told a briefing last week.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are rejecting "progress toward democracy".