“A farce”. Myanmar goes to the polls in the midst of civil war, the first elections in the country since the 2021 coup d’état

Military Junta rejects accusations of human rights violations and says that “it is irrelevant whether the international community is satisfied or not”. Voters say that, this year, they cannot even vote in protest, because the electronic voting system only accepts ballots with a cross in one of the parties, all pre-approved by the military.

Rangum, Myanmar — The polls opened in Myanmar on Sunday, kicking off a controversial election that the military junta says will restore democratic rule, almost five years after it seized power from an elected government and triggered a brutal civil war it has yet to win.

The country’s most popular politician, Aung San Suu Kyi, is in prison and the most successful political party has been dissolved. The electoral ballot is dominated by parties considered close to the military and hundreds of people have been arrested under a new law that criminalizes obstruction, disruption and criticism of the election.

And there are vast areas of the country where voting will not take place, as the junta continues to battle a patchwork of ethnic rebels and pro-democracy fighters in the mountainous border regions and arid central plains.

A year ago, these groups inflicted a series of defeats on the military – and many opponents even dreamed that the generals could be overthrown, putting an end to their decades-long dominance over the country’s politics and economy.

But this year the junta’s troops – reinforced by tens of thousands of men recruited under one and supported by new Chinese weaponry – recovered territory.

Analysts say this has opened an opening for the junta to hold these elections, with the generals hoping that a new parliament, in which a quarter of the seats will be reserved for the military, will convince some members of the international community to reconnect with Myanmar after years of post-coup isolation.

“The election for the military is, first and foremost, an opportunity to correct what they considered to be an unacceptable result five years ago, when their opponent, the National League for Democracy, won a second term in office with a landslide victory,” Richard Horsey, Myanmar consultant for the International Crisis Group, tells CNN.

“What is really important is that countries do not give unjustified support or legitimacy to these elections,” he adds. “They need to be seen for what they are: a cynical exercise to perpetuate military power.”

In Yangon, the commercial capital of Myanmar, national flags adorn the main highway accessing the city and electronic billboards broadcast state media coverage of the elections, which will be held in three stages until January, with the first day of voting taking place this Sunday.

The leadership of the military junta has made it clear who it considers citizens should vote for.

Senator General Min Aung Hlaing, who led the 2021 coup, called on voters to choose candidates “who can sincerely cooperate with the Tatmadaw”, as state media reported, using the Burmese word meaning Armed Forces.

A new democracy or a farce?

The mood has been notably calmer than in previous elections over the last decade, when Myanmar experienced a more open democracy. Absent from the posters and state media coverage is Suu Kyi, for decades the emblematic figure of Myanmar’s fight for democracy.

the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, who turned 80 this year, is currently serving a 27-year prison sentence after being convicted by a military junta court on a series of charges that, according to critics, were designed to keep her away from politics.

The kind of non-violent resistance that once enshrined Suu Kyi has been all but forgotten since the coup, as the civil war rages.

Meanwhile, the military has been relentless in its attacks on opponents.

and human rights groups have gathered evidence of systematic human rights violations committed by the military against combatants and civilians since the coup.

“The situation is bad, in fact, conditions have worsened significantly,” says Tom Andrews, UN special rapporteur for Myanmar, to CNN. “The humanitarian crisis in Myanmar has deteriorated significantly”, he adds, citing that the military junta has blocked access to humanitarian aid and that there are health facilities that are being attacked.

There are records of things committed by the military, such as bombings of villages, by air, men and women, for the army.

Myanmar’s military junta has repeatedly denied committing atrocities and claims to be fighting “terrorists”.

Critics also question the fairness of an election when those who oppose the military face severe consequences.

“You cannot have a free and fair election when you arrest, detain, torture and execute the political opposition, when it is illegal to criticize the military and criticize the elections”, highlights Andrews, classifying these elections as “nothing less than a fraud”.

The junta argues that the objectives of the election are the creation of a “genuine and disciplined multi-party democratic system and the building of a union based on democracy and federalism.”

And it ignores international criticism of the elections.

“The election is being held for the people of Myanmar, not for the international community,” said junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun on December 14, according to Reuters. “Whether the international community is satisfied or not is irrelevant.”

The coup that triggered a civil war

The military seized power in February 2021, alleging mass fraud in elections won by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD). At the time, international observers said the vote was largely free and fair.

A brutal crackdown on peaceful protests has driven thousands of people, mostly young people, to take refuge in territories controlled by ethnic rebel groups in the jungles and mountains of Myanmar’s border regions.

There, they formed the “Popular Defense Forces”, dedicated to overthrowing the coup.

Equipped with limited and sometimes improvised weapons, they initially surprised their opponents with their effectiveness, dragging the military into a bloody stalemate.

Nearly five years of conflict have devastated Myanmar, a country wedged between China and India, and decimated what was for a time one of the region’s fastest-growing economies.

More than 3 million people were forced to flee their homes, according to the UN. Tens of thousands of young men have fled abroad or to rebel-controlled areas to avoid military conscription.

Crime and vice thrived in the chaos. Myanmar is now the world’s largest producer of methamphetamine and illicit opium, according to the United Nations.

And, in territories controlled by countless armed groups, new criminal organizations have flourished: fraudulent complexes, where thousands of workers victims of human trafficking deceive people around the world, stealing billions.

A major earthquake in March amplified the suffering of many, causing widespread disruption and worsening an already critical humanitarian crisis.

China and Russia supporters

The United States and most Western countries never recognized the military junta as Myanmar’s legitimate government, and the election was denounced by several governments in the region, including Japan and Malaysia.

Russia and China have long been two of Myanmar’s biggest supporters and have come out in favor of the elections. Thailand and India have pressed for greater dialogue with Myanmar’s generals to end the crisis on their borders.

China has used its economic power to pressure rebel groups that control territories along its border, closing land passages through which trade and people flow.

Meanwhile, Beijing’s envoys brokered the return of territories captured by rebel groups to junta control, including the gem and ruby ​​mining center of Mogok.

Voting will be held in three phases, with the second on January 11th and the third on January 25th. It is unclear when the results will be announced.

In the run-up to the vote, United Nations human rights observers said Myanmar had witnessed an intensification of violence, repression and intimidation, with civilians being threatened by both military authorities and armed groups opposing them.

“There are no conditions for the exercise of the rights to freedom of expression, association or peaceful assembly that allow the free and meaningful participation of the people”, argues the UN human rights chief, Volker Türk.

The composition of any new administration “will be interesting to observers to a certain extent,” independent Myanmar analyst David Mathieson tells CNN. “But the military is incapable of anything more than superficial changes that do not threaten its fundamental interests of central control.”

“These elections are different”

Many Myanmar citizens say they do not see much advantage in going to vote.

“I was more excited to vote in the previous elections because we had freedom of choice,” says Su, who CNN identifies only by her first name.

This time, even voting in protest became impossible.

In previous elections, says Su, you could leave your ballot blank. But this time, according to her, the electronic vote counting machines only accept ballots marked with a vote for a party – all of them approved by the electoral commission that the military junta controls.

Ko Win, whose full name CNN also does not disclose, says he voted in the 2015 and 2020 elections, in which the NLD won handily.

“This election is different from previous ones, but I don’t want to say why,” he told CNN after voting in central Yangon. “I hope that these elections will allow us to get out of this very difficult situation.”

Many other voters declined to speak to CNN or expressed little hope.

“As a civilian specializing in the area of ​​conflict, I don’t see the point in these elections,” says Maw, a 25-year-old teacher who asks that her full name not be published, from an internally displaced people’s camp in Kayah state, one of the main pockets of resistance to the military regime.

“This election will be unfair – ultimately a sham.”