Myanmar has been ravaged by conflict since the military ousted a civilian government in a 2021 coup and detained its leader, Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a civil war that has engulfed large parts of the impoverished nation of 51 million people.
Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, which swept the last election in 2020, has been dissolved along with dozens of other anti-junta parties for failing to register for the latest polls, while rebel groups have refused to take part.
The United Nations, many Western countries and human rights groups say the election is a sham exercise that is neither free, fair nor credible in the absence of a meaningful opposition.
The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party is leading by a huge margin after winning 90 of the 102 lower house seats contested in the first phase on December 28, which saw only 52.13% voter turnout, much lower than elections in 2020 and 2015.
“The USDP is on track for a landslide victory, which is hardly a surprise given the extent to which the playing field was tilted in its favour. This included the removal of any serious rivals and a set of laws designed to stifle opposition to the polls,” said Richard Horsey, Senior Myanmar Adviser for Crisis Group.
Myanmar junta stages election after five years of civil war
A final round will take place on January 25. In all, there will be voting in 265 of Myanmar’s 330 townships, including areas where the junta does not have full control
The junta has said the election will bring political stability and a better future for the country, which is facing one of the most serious humanitarian crises in Asia.
At least 16,600 civilians have died in the conflict since the coup, according to Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project, and the U.N. estimates that 3.6 million people have been displaced.
However, analysts warn that the junta’s attempt to form a stable administration amid raging conflict is fraught with risk and any military-controlled government is unlikely to gain broad international recognition.
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing last month sidestepped a question from a reporter about his political ambitions.
He hailed the election as a success during a visit last week to central Myanmar township, where he urged authorities to work to further boost turnout.
“In phase one of the election, a large number of votes were cast, showing that the people have a strong desire to participate in the democratic process,” state media quoted him as saying.“Therefore, the election can be considered a successful one.”
Hundreds of prisoners walked free in Myanmar on Sunday after the junta announced annual independence day pardons, just a week after the start of an election that international monitors have denounced as sham.
The military grabbed power in a 2021 coup that triggered civil war, pitting pro-democracy rebels against junta forces, with thousands of activists since arrested.
A dozen buses full of released prisoners exited Yangon’s Insein prison on Sunday morning, with some waving to crowds of well-wishers, AFP journalists saw.
Family members outside the prison held up signs with the names of their jailed loved ones, unsure if they would be among those freed.
One man said he was hoping to see his father, who was jailed for “doing politics”.
“His sentence is about to end. I hope he will be released as soon as possible,” said the man, who declined to be named due to security concerns.
In total, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing pardoned 6,134 imprisoned Myanmar nationals, the National Defence and Security Council said, adding 52 foreign prisoners would also be released and deported.
The yearly prisoner amnesty that the junta said was “on humanitarian and compassionate grounds” was announced as the country marks 78 years of independence from British colonial rule.
Several freed men and women embraced relatives in tears outside Insein, which is notorious for alleged brutal rights abuses.
Some who spoke to AFP said they had been arrested for drugs, theft and other non-political crimes.
“I am very happy to reunite with my family,” said 35-year-old Yazar Tun, as he held one of his three children outside Insein.He said he served around eight months of a year-long sentence for loitering.
Prominent model and former doctor Nang Mwe San was also among those released, an AFP journalist saw.She was arrested in 2022 on a charge of “harming culture and dignity” for posting allegedly explicit videos online.
Myanmar’s junta opened voting in a phased month-long election a week ago, with its leaders pledging the poll would bring on democracy and national reconciliation.
However, rights advocates and Western diplomats have condemned it as a sham and a rebranding of martial rule.
The pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) has a decisive lead in the first phase, winning 90 percent of the lower house seats announced so far, according to official results published in state media on Saturday and Sunday.
The massively popular but dissolved National League for Democracy (NLD) of democratic figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi did not appear on ballots, and she has been jailed since the coup.
The military overturned the results of the last poll in 2020 after the NLD defeated the USDP by a landslide.The military and USDP then alleged massive voter fraud, claims that international monitors say were unfounded.
The junta has said turnout in the first phase last month exceeded 50 percent of eligible voters, below the 2020 participation rate of around 70 percent.
Myanmar frequently grants amnesty to thousands of prisoners to commemorate holidays or Buddhist festivals.
The junta announced the release of more than 9,000 prisoners to mark independence day in 2024, and nearly 6,000 for the same occasion last year.
A key aide to Suu Kyi was among hundreds of prisoners freed in a pre-election amnesty in November.The junta said that month it was dropping sentences for more than 3,000 prisoners, after they were prosecuted under post-coup legislation restricting free speech.