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

The nation is holding an election in a vote broadly rejected as a sham, with major political parties banned, numerous figures jailed and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an ongoing civil war.

A Phased Ballot Amid Conflict

The military government is holding a phased ballot nearly five years after it seized power in a coup, which ignited widespread opposition and spiralled into a devastating conflict.

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

"The environment does not allow for the exercise of the rights of freedom of expression, assembly or peaceful protest," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated.

Over two hundred people have been charged for interfering with or opposing the polls under a new law which imposes severe punishments, including the death penalty.

Film director Mike Tee, actor 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 endorsing the elections.

Immense Challenges and Pressure

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

The army has been fighting on multiple battlefields, against both pro-democracy fighters who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own militias. It ceded territory of large parts of the country in a series of major setbacks, but clawed back territory this year after relentless airstrikes enabled by support from Beijing and Moscow.

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 Limited Vote

Voting is set to take place in three phases over the coming weeks in 274 of the country's 330 townships, with the remainder deemed not secure enough. Outcomes 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, not all constituencies will hold elections, making it challenging to forecast a possible turnout.

Six 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 scored landslide victories in 2015 and 2020, have been banned. Suu Kyi and many of the party's senior figures have been imprisoned under charges broadly viewed as politically motivated, while the rest are in hiding abroad.

International Condemnation

"By splitting the vote into stages, the junta can change their approach if the outcomes in the initial round do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts.

Nations in the West, including the UK and the European Parliament, have rejected the vote as a sham, while regional bloc Asean has urged political dialogue to precede any election.

The Burmese junta has dismissed criticism of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "restore 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 told a briefing last week.

Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are rejecting "the path to democracy".