🔗 Share this article Conflict-ravaged Burma Votes in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election. The country's military is conducting a phased vote over the coming weeks. The nation is holding an election in a vote broadly rejected as a sham, with major political parties banned, many of their leaders imprisoned and as much as half of the country unlikely to vote because of an continuing internal conflict. A Phased Ballot Amid War The ruling junta is conducting a staggered election nearly five years after it seized power in a coup, which ignited massive protests and escalated into a devastating conflict. Analysts note the junta, with China's support, is seeking to legitimise and consolidate 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 free speech, assembly or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk said. Over two hundred people have been charged for interfering with or opposing the election under a recently enacted legislation which carries harsh penalties, including the death penalty. Film director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures found guilty under the law, which was passed in July. They were each given a prison sentence of seven years 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, adding that resistance forces 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 armies which have their own forces. It lost control of vast areas 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 large parts of the country are still under rebel administration 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 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 unlikely to be any voting in as much as one half of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, some districts will hold elections, making it difficult 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 compete only at the state or regional levels. Some 40 parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which achieved decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and many of the party's senior figures have been jailed under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while others 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 representative of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts. Nations in the West, including the United Kingdom and the European Parliament, have rejected the vote as a sham, while neighbouring group Asean has called for negotiations to precede any election. The Burmese junta has dismissed criticism 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 people of this country. It is not intended for the outside world," a military representative stated at a briefing last week. Military leader Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are turning their back on "progress toward democracy".
The country's military is conducting a phased vote over the coming weeks. The nation is holding an election in a vote broadly rejected as a sham, with major political parties banned, many of their leaders imprisoned and as much as half of the country unlikely to vote because of an continuing internal conflict. A Phased Ballot Amid War The ruling junta is conducting a staggered election nearly five years after it seized power in a coup, which ignited massive protests and escalated into a devastating conflict. Analysts note the junta, with China's support, is seeking to legitimise and consolidate 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 free speech, assembly or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk said. Over two hundred people have been charged for interfering with or opposing the election under a recently enacted legislation which carries harsh penalties, including the death penalty. Film director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures found guilty under the law, which was passed in July. They were each given a prison sentence of seven years 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, adding that resistance forces 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 armies which have their own forces. It lost control of vast areas 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 large parts of the country are still under rebel administration 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 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 unlikely to be any voting in as much as one half of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, some districts will hold elections, making it difficult 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 compete only at the state or regional levels. Some 40 parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which achieved decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and many of the party's senior figures have been jailed under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while others 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 representative of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts. Nations in the West, including the United Kingdom and the European Parliament, have rejected the vote as a sham, while neighbouring group Asean has called for negotiations to precede any election. The Burmese junta has dismissed criticism 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 people of this country. It is not intended for the outside world," a military representative stated at a briefing last week. Military leader Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are turning their back on "progress toward democracy".