Conflict-ravaged Myanmar Goes to the Polls in Widely Criticised Political Theater.

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

A Staggered Vote Amid Conflict

The ruling junta is holding a staggered election nearly half a decade after it seized power in a coup, which sparked massive protests and escalated into a civil war.

Analysts note the junta, with backing from Beijing, is attempting to validate and entrench its power as it seeks a way out of the devastating deadlock.

"There are no conditions for the exercise of the rights of free speech, assembly or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk said.

More than 200 people have been prosecuted for disrupting or criticising the election under a new law which imposes severe punishments, including the possibility of execution.

Film director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures found guilty under the law, which was enacted in July. They were each given a prison sentence of seven years after speaking out against a promotional video endorsing the elections.

Logistical Nightmare and Coercion

Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a statement, adding that resistance forces have issued their own threats asking people to boycott the polls.

The army has been engaged on several fronts, against both armed resistance groups who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armies which have their own forces. It ceded territory of large parts of the country in a string of defeats, but clawed back territory this year following sustained aerial bombardment enabled by 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 operational hurdle for conducting an election.

A Restricted Poll

Voting is set to take place in three rounds over the coming weeks in 274 of the country's 330 townships, with the rest deemed too unstable. Results 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, not all constituencies will go to the polls, making it challenging to forecast a likely turnout.

A handful of parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while another 51 parties and non-aligned contenders 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 dissolved. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's senior figures have been jailed under charges broadly viewed as politically motivated, while others are in exile.

International Condemnation

"By splitting the vote into phases, the junta can adjust tactics if the results in the initial round do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a representative of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts.

Nations in the West, including the UK and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a pretence, while regional bloc Asean has called for negotiations to precede any election.

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

"This vote is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the people of Myanmar. It is not being held for the international community," a junta spokesman stated at a news conference last week.

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