Myanmar is going to the polls in a vote widely dismissed as a sham, with major political parties banned, many of their leaders jailed and as much as half of the country unlikely to vote because of an continuing civil war.
The military government is conducting a phased ballot nearly half a decade after it seized power in a coup, which ignited widespread opposition and escalated into a civil war.
Analysts note the military regime, with backing from Beijing, is seeking to legitimise and entrench its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating stalemate.
"The environment does not allow for the practice of the freedoms of free speech, assembly or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk said.
Over two hundred people have been prosecuted for disrupting or criticising the election under a new law which carries harsh penalties, including the possibility of execution.
Film director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and entertainer Ohn Daing were among the prominent figures convicted under the law, which was passed in July. They were each given a seven-year jail term after speaking out against a film endorsing the elections.
Civilians are "being coerced from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a comment, pointing out that resistance forces have issued their own threats asking people to shun the polls.
The army has been engaged on several fronts, against both pro-democracy fighters who reject the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own forces. It lost control of large parts of the country in a string of defeats, but regained territory this year following sustained aerial bombardment enabled by support from China and Russia.
All of this and the fact that significant regions of the country are still under opposition control presents a massive operational hurdle for conducting an election.
Voting is set to take place in three phases over the next month in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's 330 townships, with the rest deemed not secure enough. Outcomes are expected around the end of January.
There is unlikely to be any voting in up to fifty percent of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, not all constituencies will go to the polls, making it difficult to predict a likely turnout.
Six parties, including the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party, are fielding candidates nationwide, while dozens more parties and non-aligned contenders will contest only at the local levels.
Approximately forty groups, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which scored decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and a number of the party's key leaders have been imprisoned under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while others are in exile.
"By splitting the vote into phases, the junta can adjust tactics if the outcomes in the initial round do not go their way," commented Htin Kyaw Aye, a representative of the election-monitoring group Spring Sprouts.
Western governments, including the United Kingdom and the European Parliament, have rejected the vote as a pretence, while regional bloc Asean has called for negotiations to precede any election.
The Myanmar regime has rejected criticism of the polls, insisting that it aims to "restore a democracy with multiple parties".
"The election is being held for our nation. It is being held for the citizens of this country. It is not intended for the outside world," a military representative told a news conference last week.
Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are rejecting "the path to democracy".
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