Sawt Falasteen - Myanmar votes in second phase of junta-run election

The armed forces have ruled Myanmar for most of its post-independence history, before a decade-long democratic thaw saw civilians take the reins in a burst of reform.

But the military snatched back power in a 2021 coup, voiding the results of the previous election, detaining democratic figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi and plunging Myanmar into civil war.

Polls opened at 6:00 am Sunday (2330 GMT Saturday) in Suu Kyi's former constituency of Kawhmu, around 25 kilometres (16 miles) south of Yangon city, AFP journalists saw.

Farmer Than Than Sint acknowledged the country's "many problems", telling AFP she voted to fulfil her civic duty and wanted peace in Myanmar.

"We know it will not come right away. But we need to go step-by-step for our future generations," the 54-year-old said after exiting a polling station at a primary school in Kawhmu.

"I think things will be better after the election," she added.

After ruling by force for five years, the junta has pledged the three-phase election, due to end on January 25, will return power to the people.

But the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) -- described by many analysts as the military's prime proxy -- won nearly 90 percent of lower house seats in the first phase late last month.

With Suu Kyi sidelined and her massively popular party dissolved, democracy advocates say the vote has been rigged by a ballot stacked with military allies and a crackdown on dissent.

"I think the results lie only in the mouth of the military," said a 50-year-old resident of Yangon, where voting is also taking place on Sunday.

"The people have very little interest in this election," added the resident, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity for security reasons.

"This election has absolutely nothing to do with escaping this suffering."

- 'Engineered' polls -

The first phase had a turnout of around 50 percent, far below the roughly 70 percent of the 2020 election when most voters backed Suu Kyi's party.

Polling is not happening in large enclaves carved out by rebel factions, who the military accused of staging drone, rocket and bomb attacks on the weekend of the election's first phase, killing five people.

Analysts say the junta is staging the vote to launder its image, aiming to improve diplomatic relations, increase foreign investment and sap momentum from rebels.

"The junta engineered the polls to ensure victory for its proxy, entrench military domination in Myanmar, and manufacture a facade of legitimacy while violence and repression continue unabated," UN rights expert Tom Andrews said in a statement on Thursday.

The military justified its 2021 coup with allegations that Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) party won a landslide victory over pro-military parties in 2020 due to massive voter fraud. Election monitors, however, say those claims were unfounded.

Parties that won 90 percent of seats in 2020 -- including the NLD -- are not on the ballot for this vote after being dissolved, according to the Asian Network for Free Elections.

Regardless of the vote, a quarter of parliamentary seats will be reserved for the armed forces under the terms of a constitution drafted during a previous stint of military rule.

- Limited electorate -

Meanwhile, more than 330 people are being pursued under junta-enacted laws, including clauses punishing protest or criticism of the poll with up to a decade in prison.

More than 22,000 political prisoners are languishing in junta jails, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners advocacy group.

In the coup's wake, security forces put down pro-democracy protests, but activists formed ragtag guerrilla units, often fighting alongside ethnic minority armies long resistant to central rule.

Voting has been cancelled in dozens of lower house constituencies, many known battlegrounds or regions where rebels run parallel administrations beyond the junta's reach.

Ahead of voting, the military has waged offensives to claw back ground including air strikes which have targeted civilian sites, according to witnesses.

While there is no official toll for Myanmar's civil war, monitoring group ACLED -- which tallies media reports of violence -- estimates that 90,000 people have been killed on all sides.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has not ruled out swapping his military uniform for the civilian sash of president when a new government is formed.

K.AbuDahab--SF-PST