War-torn Myanmar votes in widely criticised ‘sham’ election
Myanmar is heading to the polls in an election widely dismissed as fraudulent, with major political parties banned, many of their leaders jailed and half the country unlikely to vote because of the ongoing civil war.
The military government is holding a phased vote nearly five years after it seized power in a coup that sparked widespread opposition and descended into civil war.
Observers say the junta, with China’s support, is trying to legitimize and consolidate its power as it seeks a way out of this devastating stalemate.
More than 200 people have been charged with disrupting or opposing elections under the new law, which carries severe penalties including the death penalty.
Film director Mike Tee, actor Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures convicted under the law, which came into effect in July. The defendants, who criticized a film promoting the elections, were each sentenced to seven years in prison, state media reported.
“There are no conditions for the exercise of freedom of expression, association or peaceful assembly,” said Volker Turk, the United Nations’ top human rights official. he said.
Civilians are “under pressure from all sides,” Turk said Tuesday, noting that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats asking people to boycott the elections.
The army is fighting on multiple fronts against both armed resistance groups opposing the coup and ethnic armies with their own militias. It lost control of much of the country in a series of major setbacks, but regained territory this year after sustained air strikes backed by China and Russia.
The civil war has killed thousands of people, displaced millions, devastated the economy and left a humanitarian void. The devastating earthquake in March and international funding cuts worsened the situation.
All this, and the fact that much of the country is still under opposition control, poses a huge logistical challenge for holding elections.
Voting is planned to be held in three stages next month in 274 of the country’s 330 districts, while the rest are considered to be very unstable. The results are expected to be announced in late January.
More than half of the country is not expected to vote. Even in voting districts, not all precincts will go to the polls, making it difficult to predict possible turnout.
Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, will field their candidates nationwide, while 51 other parties and independent candidates will compete only at the state or district level.
Nearly 40 parties were banned, including Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, which won landslide victories in 2015 and 2020. Suu Kyi and most of the party’s top leaders have been jailed on charges widely condemned as politically motivated, while others are in exile.
“By dividing the voting into phases, authorities can adjust their tactics if the results in the first phase do not go in the desired direction,” Htin Kyaw Aye, spokesman for election monitoring group Spring Sprouts, told Myanmar Now news agency.
Ral Uk Thang, who lives in Western Chin province, believes civilians “don’t want elections.”
“The military does not know how to govern our country. They only work for the interests of their senior leaders.
The 80-year-old told the BBC: “We had some democracy when Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s party was in power. But now all we do is cry and shed tears.”
Western governments, including the United Kingdom and the European Parliament, rejected the vote as fraudulent, while regional bloc Asean called for political dialogue before any elections.
The Burmese junta rejected criticism of the ballot box and claimed that it aimed to “come back”. [the country] “Transition to a multi-party democratic system.”
“The election is being held for Myanmar. It is being held for the people of Myanmar. It is not being held for the international community,” Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said at a press conference last week.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who refused to vote were refusing to “move towards democracy”.
