The nation is holding an election in a vote broadly rejected as a farce, with major political parties dissolved, numerous figures jailed and a significant portion of the country unable to participate because of an continuing civil war.
The ruling junta is conducting a staggered election nearly half a decade after it seized power in a coup, which ignited widespread opposition and spiralled into a civil war.
Observers say the military regime, with China's support, is seeking to legitimise and entrench its power as it looks for a way out of the devastating stalemate.
"There are no conditions for the exercise of the freedoms of free speech, assembly or peaceful assembly," the United Nations' top human rights official Volker Türk stated.
More than 200 people have been prosecuted for disrupting or criticising the election under a recently enacted legislation which imposes harsh penalties, including the death penalty.
Film director Mike Tee, performer Kyaw Win Htut and comedian Ohn Daing were among the well-known individuals found guilty under the law, which was passed in July. They were each given a seven-year jail term after speaking out against a film promoting the elections.
Civilians are "facing pressure from all sides," Mr Türk noted in a statement, adding that armed rebel groups have issued their own threats asking people to shun the polls.
The military has been engaged on several fronts, against both pro-democracy fighters who oppose the coup, as well as ethnic armed organisations which have their own forces. It ceded territory of vast areas of the country in a series of major setbacks, but regained territory this year after 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 rebel administration presents a huge logistical challenge for conducting an election.
The ballot is set to take place in three phases over the next month in two hundred and seventy-four of the country's three hundred and thirty townships, with the rest deemed not secure enough. Outcomes are expected around the end of January.
There is not expected to be any voting in up to fifty percent of the country. Even in the townships that are voting, not all constituencies will hold elections, making it challenging to predict a possible turnout.
Six parties, including the junta-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party, are running nominees nationwide, while another 51 parties and independent candidates will compete only at the state or regional levels.
Some 40 parties, including Aung San Suu Kyi's National League of Democracy, which scored decisive wins in 2015 and 2020, have been dissolved. Suu Kyi and many of the party's senior figures have been jailed under charges broadly viewed as fabricated, while the rest are in hiding abroad.
"By splitting the vote into phases, the junta can change their approach if the results in the initial round do not go their way," noted Htin Kyaw Aye, a representative of the watchdog group Spring Sprouts.
Western governments, including the United Kingdom and the European Parliament, have dismissed the vote as a pretence, while neighbouring group Asean has called for political dialogue to precede any election.
The Myanmar regime has dismissed condemnation of the polls, maintaining that it aims to "return [the country] to a democracy with multiple parties".
"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," a junta spokesman told a news conference last week.
Military leader Min Aung Hlaing warned earlier this week that those who choose not to participate are turning their back on "progress toward democracy".
Milan is een ervaren opticien met een passie voor visuele technologie en klantgerichtheid.
