San Francisco Frontiers - Split decision: war divides Myanmar constituency

Pekon, in Shan state in Myanmar's northeast, illustrates the country's stark divisions and the limits of the junta's reach.

About 90 kilometres (56 miles) from the Thai border, it has been split by the civil war triggered by the military's coup five years ago.

Hundreds live at the camp, a scattering of bamboo structures perched in a mountain valley with plastic sheeting for roofs and walls.

In the early morning chill, they crouch over cooking fires, just a handful of the millions of victims of the country's humanitarian crisis.

"While the election is happening, they are still bombing the public by plane," said Simonet, 40, wearing a thin black jacket as the morning cold misted his breath.

"If you ask me if the election will bring peace, I don't think so."

The junta has touted the vote as a chance for reconciliation, but launched a withering campaign of offensives in the run-up to claw back ground.

The military pledges the election will return power to the people, and state TV showed polling stations opening in junta-held portions of Pekon.

Simonet's camp was among the places listed to vote in the month-long election's third and final phase on Sunday.

- 'We don't trust them' -

But it remains under the control of anti-junta forces -- hundreds of different factions have carved out enclaves where they run parallel administrations beyond the military's writ.

"I don't think anything will be different with the new government," said Simonet, who goes by only one name.

"Since they don't have any trust in the public, we don't trust them."

Estimates of how much territory the military has lost to rebels vary widely, but the junta has called off voting in about one in five townships.

In junta-held territory, the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party is on course for a landslide win, bolstering critics who say the vote has been rigged to prolong the armed forces' reign.

"It's impossible for it to be free and fair," said 20-year-old William, another resident of the Pekon displaced camp, who also goes by one name.

"I believe they're holding it just to sustain their power," he said.

"No one else wants to compete and the people have no desire to vote."

Touring polling stations in Mandalay, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing urged the public "to work for the good of the nation and to be open-minded" after the poll.

But out in Pekon, the battle lines have been drawn.

"This isn't a government we chose," said William.

U.Campbell--SFF