War-torn Myanmar Votes in Widely Criticised 'Sham' Election.

Myanmar is going to the polls in a vote 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 ongoing civil war.

A Staggered Vote Amid War

The military government is conducting a phased ballot nearly five years after it seized power in a takeover, which sparked massive protests and spiralled into a civil war.

Analysts note the military regime, with China's support, is attempting to validate and consolidate its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating deadlock.

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

More than 200 people have been prosecuted for interfering with or opposing the polls under a new law which carries severe punishments, including the possibility of execution.

Director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and comedian 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 criticising a film endorsing the elections.

Immense Challenges and Pressure

Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk said in a statement, adding that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats asking people to shun the polls.

The army has been fighting on several fronts, against both pro-democracy fighters who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armies 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 enabled by support from China and Russia.

All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under rebel administration presents a massive logistical challenge for conducting an election.

A Restricted Poll

Voting is set to take place in three rounds over the coming weeks in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 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, not all constituencies will hold elections, making it challenging to forecast a likely turnout.

Six parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while dozens more 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 decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been banned. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's key leaders have been jailed under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while others are in exile.

International Condemnation

"By splitting the vote into phases, the junta can adjust tactics if the outcomes in the first phase do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a spokesman of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts.

Western governments, including the UK and the EU legislature, have dismissed the vote as a pretence, while neighbouring group Asean has urged negotiations to come before any election.

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

"The election is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the citizens of this country. It is not being held for the international community," a junta spokesman stated at 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".