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

Myanmar is going to the polls in a vote widely dismissed as a sham, with major political parties banned, many of their leaders jailed and as much as half of the country unlikely to vote because of an continuing civil war.

A Phased Ballot Amid Conflict

The ruling junta is holding a staggered election nearly half a decade after it took control in a coup, which ignited widespread opposition and spiralled into a devastating conflict.

Analysts note the military regime, with backing from Beijing, is seeking to legitimise and consolidate its power as it seeks a way out of the devastating deadlock.

"There are no conditions 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 prosecuted for interfering with or opposing the polls under a recently enacted legislation which carries harsh penalties, including the possibility of execution.

Director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures convicted under the law, which was enacted in July. They were each handed a prison sentence of seven years after criticising a promotional video endorsing 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 engaged on multiple battlefields, against both armed resistance groups who reject 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 made possible through support from Beijing and Moscow.

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 Limited Vote

Voting is set to take place in three phases over the next month 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 predict a possible turnout.

A handful of parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while dozens more 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 decisive wins 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

"Through dividing the vote into stages, the authorities can change their approach if the outcomes in the first phase do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts.

Western governments, including the UK and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a sham, while neighbouring group Asean has urged political dialogue to come before any election.

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

"This vote is being held for our nation. It is being held for the citizens of Myanmar. It is not being held for the outside world," a military representative told a briefing last week.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who refuse to vote are rejecting "the path to democracy".