The ruling junta says the heavily restricted polls are a return to democracy but critics are wary
Five years after Myanmar’s junta ousted the country’s last elected government, triggering a civil war, voting is set to begin this week in national elections.
The junta claims the vote is a return to democracy, but in reality the one-sided and heavily restricted poll has been widely condemned as a sham designed to keep the generals in power through proxies.
The first of three rounds of voting is due to begin at 6am on 28 December. More than 100 townships, including the commercial capital of Yangon, will vote in this first phase of the elections, followed by another 100 in the second phase on 11 January. The details of a possible third phase are yet to be announced.
There will be 57 parties on the ballot on Sunday, but the majority are perceived as being linked to or dependent on the military. Only six parties are running nationwide, with the rest only running in a single state or region. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development party has fielded the largest number of candidates and is in effectrunning uncontested in dozens of constituencies.
