Myanmar will start the initial round of its general election on Sunday, and this will be the first nationwide election in the country in five years. The exercise has however attracted immense criticism among opposition parties, analysts and human rights organisations who assert that through the polls, democracy is not likely to be restored and the current state of civil war brought to a stop due to the military takeover in 2021.
The military junta that is ruling has represented the elections as being a move towards restoring a multi-party democratic system. Critics are however angry that the move is actually an attempt to give the military rule the semblance of legitimacy, which began when the armed forces replaced the elected rule of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi four years earlier. The coup provoked the mass demonstrations throughout the country, which was later intensified into the extended and bloody civil war between the resistance forces and the ethnic armed groups.
The current conflict has presented significant threats to the election process especially in the areas where there are severe fights. Consequently, the election will not be held on a single day in the entire country. Rather the election has been split into three processes with the polling on Sunday after which there will be other phases on January 11 and January 25, depending on the security conditions in various locations.
The human rights groups and the political opponent have put in place serious questions on the credibility of the vote and have argued that it will not be free or fair. In their view, the political landscape is still very restrictive, the political opponents are undermined, the dissent is repressed, and the vast layers of the population are displaced by the violence. It is believed that military chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing will remain the real power even after the election.
A Myanmar analyst of the International Crisis Group, Richard Horsey, indicated that the military is the one organising and supervising the election.
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