Conflict-ravaged Myanmar Goes to the Polls in Broadly Condemned Political Theater.

The nation is holding an election in a vote widely dismissed as a farce, with key opposition groups dissolved, numerous figures imprisoned and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing internal conflict.

A Phased Ballot Amid Conflict

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

Observers say the military regime, with China's support, is seeking to legitimise and entrench its power as it seeks a way out of the devastating deadlock.

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

More than 200 people have been charged for disrupting or criticising the polls under a new law which carries severe punishments, including the death penalty.

Film director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures convicted under the law, which was enacted in July. They were each given a prison sentence of seven years after criticising a film endorsing the elections.

Logistical Nightmare and Pressure

Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, adding that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats urging people to boycott the polls.

The military has been fighting on several fronts, against both pro-democracy fighters who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own forces. It ceded territory of vast areas of the country in a string of defeats, but regained territory this year following relentless airstrikes 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 huge operational hurdle for holding an election.

A Restricted Poll

Voting is set to take place in three phases over the coming weeks in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 townships, with the remainder deemed too unstable. Results are expected by late 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, some districts will go to the polls, making it difficult to predict a likely turnout.

Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while dozens more parties and independent candidates will compete only at the local 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 key leaders have been imprisoned under charges widely condemned as fabricated, while the rest are in hiding abroad.

International Condemnation

"By splitting the vote into phases, the junta can adjust tactics if the results in the first phase do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a representative of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts.

Western governments, including the United Kingdom and the European Parliament, have rejected the vote as a pretence, while regional bloc Asean has urged political dialogue to precede any election.

The Burmese junta has dismissed condemnation of the polls, insisting that it aims to "return [the country] to 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 being held for the outside world," a military representative stated at a news conference last week.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing cautioned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are rejecting "progress toward democracy".