As Myanmar’s military Junta begins its controversial phased general elections on Sunday, the Karen National Union (KNU), the oldest ethnic armed group, has dismissed the polls as a sham designed to manufacture a veneer of legitimacy.

Myanmar tattooist Ng La cares little for the national election organised by his country’s despised military leaders.

The UN has warned the military-controlled election is unfolding amid violence, intimidation and arrests. The country’s former leader has not been heard from in two years

From Chinese meddling to staged scam-center crackdowns and a sham election, The Irrawaddy looks back at the key events and figures in another difficult year for Myanmar.

Myanmar, also known as Burma, will hold a phased general election starting later this month. It comes amidst a years long civil war that has killed thousands and displaced millions. And it is being called by a military government that seized power in a coup four years ago.

Critics say the Dec. 28 polls will be neither free nor fair and are an effort by the military to legitimize its rule after seizing power in February 2021.

Myanmar's military has ruled the country for most of its post-independence history, presenting itself as the only force capable of guarding the fractious Southeast Asian nation from rupture and ruin.

With her health failing and an information vacuum around Myanmar's detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, her son worries that he may not even know if she passed away.