Polls open in Myanmar as military stages first election since 2021 coup

Polls have opened in Myanmar’s first general election since the country’s military toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government in a coup in 2021.

The heavily restricted election on Sunday is taking place in about 102 of the Southeast Asian nation’s 330 townships, with a civil war raging between the military and an array of opposition forces and ethnic armed groups.

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Following the initial phase, two rounds of voting will be held on January 11 and January 25, while voting has been cancelled altogether in 65 townships.

In Myanmar’s largest city, Yangon, polling stations opened at 06:00am on Sunday (2330 GMT Saturday), with only a trickle of voters turning up to cast their ballots.

“It looks like an election. We’ve got all the necessary bits in place. There are registration boards out here. But we have not seen a rush of voters coming in yet,” said Al Jazeera’s Tony Cheng, reporting from Yangon.

“The question is, how many people are going to use the opportunity to vote. When you look at the ballot, there are only few choices. The vast majority of those choices are military parties,” he said.

The election has been derided by critics – including the United Nations, some Western countries and human rights ⁠groups – as an exercise that is not free, fair or credible, with anti-military political parties not competing.

Aung San Suu Kyi, who was deposed by the military ​months after her National League for Democracy (NLD) won the last general election by a landslide in 2020, remains in detention, and her party has been dissolved.

The pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) is widely expected to emerge as the largest one, in what critics say would be a rebranding of martial rule.

The military, which has ruled Myanmar for 2021, said the vote is a chance for a fresh start politically and economically for the nation of 55 million people, with Senior General Min Aung Hlaing consistently framing the polls as a path to reconciliation.

The polls “will turn a new page for Myanmar, shifting the narrative from a conflict-affected, crisis-laden country to a new chapter of hope for building peace and reconstructing ‌the economy,” an opinion piece in the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar said on Saturday.

But with fighting still raging in many areas of the country, the elections are being held in an environment of violence and repression, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said last week.

“There are no conditions for the exercise of the rights of freedom of expression, association or peaceful assembly that allow for the free and meaningful participation of the people,” said Turk, the high commissioner for human rights.

The civil war, which was triggered by the 2021 coup, has killed an estimated 90,000 people, displaced 3.5 million and left about nearly half of Myanmar’s 55 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, more than 22,000 people are currently detained for political offenses.

In downtown Yangon, stations were cordoned off overnight with security staff posted outside, while armed officers guarded traffic intersections.

Among a trickle of early voters, 45-year-old Swe Maw dismissed international criticism.

“It’s not an important matter,” he told the AFP news agency. “There are always people who like and dislike.”

In total only around 100 people voted at the two stations during their first hour of operation, according to an AFP tally.

“It is impossible for this election to be free and fair,” said Moe Moe Myint, who has spent the past two months “on the run” from junta air strikes.

“How can we support a junta-run election when this military has destroyed our lives?” she told AFP from a village in the central Mandalay region.

“We are homeless, hiding in jungles, and living between life and death,” said the 40-year-old.

The second round of polling will take place in two weeks’ time before the third and final round on January 25. Dates for counting votes and announcing election results have not been declared.

Analysts say the military’s attempt to establish a stable administration in the midst of an expansive conflict is fraught with risk, and that significant international recognition is unlikely for any military-controlled government – even if it has a civilian veneer.

The Southeast Asian nation of around 50 million is riven by civil war and there will be no voting in rebel-held areas, which is more than half the country [Nhac Nguyen/AFP]