Voters went to the polls Sunday for the initial phase of Myanmar ’s first general election in five years, held under the supervision of its military government while a civil war rages throughout much of the country.

Myanmar's military government begins the voting process as critics denounce the election for lacking any major opposition parties.

Campaigning ahead of Myanmar's general election that begins on Sunday has been shorn of the energy of previous polls, residents said, as voting is scheduled amid a civil war and a humanitarian crisis as well as wide criticism that it is a sham to help the junta perpetuate power.

Polls opened in Myanmar on Sunday kick-starting a controversial election the military junta says will return democratic rule, nearly five years after it seized power from an elected government, unleashing a brutal civil war it has yet to win.

Observers say the vote, accompanied by a renewed crackdown on dissent, is meant to entrench the junta's power.

Voting begins Sunday in Myanmar's heavily restricted polls, with the ruling junta touting the exercise as a return to democracy five years after it ousted the last elected government, triggering

Overshadowed by civil war and doubts about the credibility of the polls, voters in Myanmar were casting their ballots in a general election starting on Sunday, the first since a military coup toppled the last civilian government in 2021.

The junta that has since ​ruled Myanmar says the vote is a chance for a fresh start politically and economically for the impoverished Southeast Asian nation. But the election has been derided by critics - including the United ‍Nations,