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I cast my vote for the National League for Democracy (NLD) in the 2020 general elections, and when, in the wake of the coup, the National Unity Government (NUG) emerged, I stood behind it without hesitation. To be sure, there were flaws from the beginning. But I was confident that they would address them. When lives are under constant threat with insecurity for four years, is it not reasonable for a citizen to expect a better performance from a government he supports?

When calls for reform grew louder—especially from prominent voices like Dr. Tayzar San—I was therefore on tenterhooks to see how the NUG would respond. As someone who follows politics closely, I began collecting critiques, not to undermine, but to understand. I was trying to figure out what matters most now.

Response to criticism
Criticism has accompanied the NUG since its inception. But when someone as prominent as Dr. Tayzar San voices concern, it resonates more widely. And when people are desperate for direction, the urgency is amplified.
https://www.irrawaddy.com/opinion/guest-...eform.html

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Myanmar’s military junta declares Karen ethnic rebels a terrorist group as elections loom. A major ethnic rebel group, including contact by third parties.
KNU has been fighting on / off for greater autonomy since Myanmar became independent from Britain in 1948. Group located in Myanmar’s southeast has been engaged especially fierce combat against army in the civil war followed junta takeover Myanmar’s elected govt in 2021. A spokesperson  KNU said Friday group would not care about the designation. Noting Myanmar’s junta had been indicted by international tribunals, KNU spokesperson Padoh Saw Taw Nee said: “Don’t even need to prove anything on who are real terrorists and international criminals are, and who the unlawful association are.” KNU vowed to disrupt national elections junta plans to hold beginning Dec. 28, but the terrorist designation will make it more difficult to do even nonviolent info campaigns, which already have been declared illegal.

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India put us on the boat like captives - then threw us in the sea. Amin last spoke to his brother on 9 May. The call was brief, but the news was devastating. He learned that his brother, Kairul, and four other relatives were among 40 Rohingya refugees allegedly deported by the Indian govt to Myanmar, a country they had fled in fear years ago. Myanmar is in the midst of a brutal civil war between the junta - which seized power in a 2021 coup - and ethnic militias and resistance forces. The odds Mr Amin will ever see his family again are vanishingly small.

"I could not process the torment that my parents and the others who were taken are facing," Mr Amin, 24, told BBC in Delhi. 3 months after they were removed from India's capital, BBC managed to contact the refugees in Myanmar. Most are staying with Ba Htoo Army (BHA), a resistance group fighting the military in the south-west of the country. "We don't feel secure in Myanmar. This place is a complete war zone," said Soyed Noor on a video call made from the phone of a BHA member. He spoke from a wooden shelter with six other refugees around him. BBC gathered testimonies from the refugees and accounts from relatives in Delhi and spoke to experts investigating the allegations to piece together what happened to them. We have learnt that they were flown from Delhi to an island in the Bay of Bengal, put on a naval vessel and eventually forced into the Andaman Sea with life jackets. They then made their way to shore and are now facing an uncertain future in Myanmar, which the mostly-Muslim Rohingya community had fled in huge numbers in recent years to escape persecution.

"They bound our hands, covered our faces and brought us like captives [on to the boat]. Then they threw us in the sea," John, one of the men in the group, told his brother by phone soon after reaching land. "How can someone just throw human beings into the sea?" asked Mr Amin. "There is humanity alive in the world but I have not seen any humanity in the Indian govt. "Thomas Andrews, the UN's special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, says there is "significant evidence" proving these allegations, which he has presented to India's head of mission in Geneva but has yet to receive a response.

The BBC has also contacted India's Ministry of External Affairs several times but had not heard back by time of publication. Campaigners have often flagged that the condition of Rohingya in India is precarious. India does not recognise the Rohingya as refugees but rather, as illegal immigrants under the country's Foreigners Act. India has a sizeable population of Rohingya refugees, although Bangladesh, where more than a million live, has the biggest number. Most fled Myanmar after a deadly army crackdown in 2017. Despite having lived there for generations, Rohingya are not recognised in Myanmar as citizens. 

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China’s President Xi Jinping on the ruling junta in Myanmar has announced country will hold its first general election since the 2021 coup starting in December 2025. At first glance, this might sound like a step toward normalcy and democracy. But in reality it nothing of the sort. Junta generals who seized power 4 yrs ago are trying to dress up their rule with a thin democratic veneer, election will not be free or fair. Instead, it will be a carefully managed spectacle designed to give the junta a sense of legitimacy both at home and abroad, while denying the people of Myanmar any real voice. Context is stark. Myanmar is still engulfed in civil war.
Ethnic armed organizations control vast swathes of territory in Kachin, Shan and Rakhine states. The Arakan Army, the Kachin Independence Army and many others have expanded their hold since the coup. These groups have already declared they will not allow voting in their areas. Even in zones under military control, widespread resistance continues. For the average citizen, daily life is shaped not by politics & by hunger, displacement and insecurity. To stage election in the midst of this chaos is to invite further fragmentation & deepen mistrust. What makes election even more hollow is the systematic exclusion of the National League for Democracy, the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, which won a landslide in the last free vote in 2020. The junta has dissolved the party, imprisoned its leaders and silenced its supporters. In its place, junta generals have fostered proxy parties loyal to them. The outcome of 2025 vote is therefore already preordained. W/out National League for Democracy, there no true contest, no genuine democratic mandate.

This is not the first time junta Myanmar military has tried to cloak its dominance in an electoral process. Over decades, the Tatmadaw, as army is known, has perfected the art of controlled democracy. In 2010, it held an election that excluded Suu Kyi and her party. Only in 2015 did the generals allow a somewhat open vote, which resulted in a humiliating defeat for their proxy party. They have no intention of repeating that mistake. The upcoming election will be a return to the 2010 model: a charade of ballots and polling stations without the essence of choice. Why, then, does junta insist on holding this election? Partly it is about international image. The generals know countries in the region, including some in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, prefer to deal with a govt. at least pays lip service to democracy. By staging a managed vote, the junta hopes to persuade neighbors ASEAN to normalize ties, attract investment and ease diplomatic pressure. Will ASEAN be more be more very crazy or do something stupid. Here a reason is to shore the junta domestic legitimacy. Even dictators understand the symbolic power of elections. By claiming a mandate from the ballot box, however contrived, the generals seek to undercut the narrative that they are illegitimate usurpers. To stage an election in the midst of this chaos is to invite further fragmentation and deepen mistrust.
But for international community must not be fooled On contrary, it risks entrenching military rule and prolonging conflict danger with outside powers, weary stalemate, may seize on election an excuse to re-engage with junta a profound mistake. Recognition sham vote betray millions who risked everything in the past four years.

So, what should be done? 
ASEAN for some weather resist the temptation or endorse electoral exercise. ASEAN as a regional bloc most directly affected by Myanmar’s election, ASEAN has both the responsibility & the leverage to insist any credible election must first end of hostilities and the release of political prisoners. 2nd, wider international community should refuse to send observers or recognize the outcome. Legitimacy must not be conferred on the junta participation in its charade. Third, more directed to Myanmar’s civil society, like national unity govt in exile and ethnic organizations to seeking a federal democratic future true representatives of Myanmar people, not generals in Naypyitaw. Millions of folks in Myanmar are facing displacement, starvation and the collapse of healthcare. Elections are meaningless as population needs food, medicine & even security, not ballot boxes 
Junta generals believe time on their side, calculate world will eventually tire of Myanmar’s plight & accept any semblance of order, however illegitimate, therefore international community has been burned b4 when it accepted managed elections in authoritarian contexts. The result is always the same: more repression people of Myanmar deserve better. Until that day comes, any talk of elections is a cruel joke. The world must stand firm in rejecting the junta’s attempt to masquerade dictatorship as democracy.

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Military junta deserved it. Even rebels are unhappy with this evil junta for killing so many unarmed civilians. Might as well proclaimed it a communist country and get kicked out of ASEAN immediately.

ASEAN is 🙃weak without power to do thing it like to do...must it to do something can do to show A gang of junta in Myanmar ASEAN is not weak.

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"Military junta deserved it. Even rebels are unhappy with this evil junta for killing so many unarmed civilians".

Myanmar is still engulfed in civil war. I think half of the country will for their own leader like....Ethnic own armed organizations, that control vast swathes of territory in Kachin, Shan and Rakhine states. The Arakan Army, the Kachin Independence Army and many others have expanded their hold since the coup. These groups have already declared they will not allow voting in their areas. Even in zones under military control, widespread resistance continues. 

For the million average citizen, daily life is shaped not by politics & by hunger, displacement and insecurity.

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Sept 1 (Reuters) - India will send teams to monitor a general election in war-torn Myanmar that is scheduled to start in December, Myanmar state media said on Monday, as New Delhi signals support for a vote that has already been derided by critics as a sham. Myanmar's military chief Min Aung Hlaing met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in China, a rare international engagement for the general who had largely been shunned by foreign leaders since leading a coup in 2021.

"At meeting, they exchanged views on measures to ensure peace and stability in the border regions of both countries, trade promotion, enhancement of friendship and cooperation," the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported. The military's ouster of an elected govt led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi 4-1/2-years ago, on pretext election fraud, triggered a devastating civil war that has engulfed large parts of the impoverished Southeast Asia nation. Myanmar plans to hold initial phase of first general election since coup on December 28, as part of voting to make military-backed interim administration to hold on seeking to conduct in more than 300 constituencies nationwide, including areas currently held by opposition armed groups.In a statement on Sunday, India's foreign ministry Modi hoped upcoming elections in Myanmar would be "held in a fair & inclusive manner involving all stakeholders".

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Junta Counterattacks in Waingmaw, Sparking Fierce Clashes with KIA. 
Myanmar junta has launched a counteroffensive in Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, sparking intense clashes with Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Colonel Naw Bu, the ethnic army’s spokesperson, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday. Since Aug. 27, the junta has been attempting to seize Lamyang Village, which is about 10 km from Waingmaw Town. Capturing the village would put the regime in a stronger position to advance not only on the rare-earth mining hub of Chipwi, but also Kanpiketi, a hub for cross-border trade with China, as well as the Myitkyina-Bhamo Road. Lamyang is located near a crossroads lead to these areas, all 3 of are currently under KIA control.

“Fighting intense everyday in Lamyang Village, junta is attacking from ground [with troops], with airstrikes & with artillery,” Col. Naw Bu said. KIA seized Chipwi in September 2024, giving it total control of the area’s rare-earth mines. There's growing interest internationally in rare-earth minerals, which play a crucial role in high-tech manufacturing, including in the defense, aerospace and renewable sectors. After meeting on sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin, China on Sunday, Indian PM Narendra Modi wrote on Facebook he & junta boss Min Aung Hlaing agreed there's “immense scope” to boost ties in areas including rare-earth mining. KIA seized the Myitkyina-Bhamo Road in March last year, and Kanpiketi in November.

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Junta Counterattacks in Waingmaw, Sparking Fierce Clashes with KIA. 
Myanmar junta has launched a counteroffensive in Waingmaw Township, Kachin State, sparking intense clashes with Kachin Independence Army (KIA), Colonel Naw Bu, the ethnic army’s spokesperson, told The Irrawaddy on Tuesday. Since Aug. 27, the junta has been attempting to seize Lamyang Village, which is about 10 km from Waingmaw Town. Capturing the village would put the regime in a stronger position to advance not only on the rare-earth mining hub of Chipwi, but also Kanpiketi, a hub for cross-border trade with China, as well as the Myitkyina-Bhamo Road. Lamyang is located near a crossroads lead to these areas, all 3 of are currently under KIA control.

“Fighting intense everyday in Lamyang Village, junta is attacking from ground [with troops], with airstrikes & with artillery,” Col. Naw Bu said. KIA seized Chipwi in September 2024, giving it total control of the area’s rare-earth mines. There's growing interest internationally in rare-earth minerals, which play a crucial role in high-tech manufacturing, including in the defense, aerospace and renewable sectors. After meeting on sidelines of Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in Tianjin, China on Sunday, Indian PM Narendra Modi wrote on Facebook he & junta boss Min Aung Hlaing agreed there's “immense scope” to boost ties in areas including rare-earth mining. KIA seized the Myitkyina-Bhamo Road in March last year, and Kanpiketi in November.

https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/mya...h-kia.html

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Sept 1 (Reuters) - India will send teams to monitor a general election in war-torn Myanmar that is scheduled to start in December, Myanmar state media said on Monday, as New Delhi signals support for a vote that has already been derided by critics as a sham. Myanmar's military chief Min Aung Hlaing met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit in China, a rare international engagement for the general who had largely been shunned by foreign leaders since leading a coup in 2021.

"At meeting, they exchanged views on measures to ensure peace and stability in the border regions of both countries, trade promotion, enhancement of friendship and cooperation," the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported. The military's ouster of an elected govt led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi 4-1/2-years ago, on pretext election fraud, triggered a devastating civil war that has engulfed large parts of the impoverished Southeast Asia nation. Myanmar plans to hold initial phase of first general election since coup on December 28, as part of voting to make military-backed interim administration to hold on seeking to conduct in more than 300 constituencies nationwide, including areas currently held by opposition armed groups.In a statement on Sunday, India's foreign ministry Modi hoped upcoming elections in Myanmar would be "held in a fair & inclusive manner involving all stakeholders".

Myanmar’s Civilian Govt Urges China to Drop Support for Junta and Poll Plan. The Foreign Affairs Ministry of Myanmar’s civilian National Unity Government (NUG) has urged the Chinese govt to withdraw support for the junta and its planned election. NUG Foreign Affairs Minister Daw Zin Mar Aung sent an official letter to the Chinese govt on Monday asking it to suspend recognition of the regime and to stop referring to junta boss Min Aung Hlaing as Myanmar’s “acting president”.

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Myanmar’s Civilian Govt Urges China to Drop Support for Junta & Poll Plan. Foreign Affairs Ministry of Myanmar’s civilian National Unity Government (NUG) has urged the Chinese govt to withdraw support for the junta and its planned election. NUG Foreign Affairs Minister Daw Zin Mar Aung official
sent an letter to Chinese govt on Monday asking it to suspend recognition of regime & stop referring to junta boss Min Aung Hlaing as Myanmar’s “acting president”.

Myanmar’s Civilian Govt Urges China to Drop Support for Junta and Poll Plan
Myanmar junta boss Min Aung Hlaing shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tianjin, China on Saturday.  / Chinese Foreign Affair Ministry. She also urged Beijing to reject the junta’s request for Chinese monitors to observe its election, slated for December-January.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry of Myanmar’s civilian National Unity Govt (NUG) has urged Chinese govt to withdraw support for junta and its planned election. NUG Foreign Affairs Minister Daw Zin Mar Aung sent an official letter to the Chinese govt on Monday asking it to suspend recognition of the regime and to stop referring to junta boss Min Aung Hlaing as Myanmar’s “acting president”.

Myanmar Junta Tightens Disclosure Rules for Companies, Citing ‘Terrorism’ 
Myanmar Junta Chief’s China Visit Hailed as ‘Successful Fruitful’ by Regime
“NUG still believes China will continue to play a constructive role in restoring peace development in Myanmar,” the letter reads. The foreign minister cautioned China’s decision to host Min Aung Hlaing on his ongoing visit risks provoking a public backlash in Myanmar damaging the “long-standing friendship” between the two peoples, junta’s brutal rule under Min Aung Hlaing had devastated Myanmar’s economy, pushed nearly half population into poverty, & driven away foreign investment, said.
The letter adds that key infrastructure projects—including the China-Myanmar Economic Corridor (CMEC)—agreed upon by Chinese president Xi Jinping and Myanmar president U Win Myint in 2020, have been severely disrupted by the junta’s actions.

Daw Zinmar Aung also noted that the regime has allowed online scam operations to thrive in territory controlled by its Border Guard Force (BGF), defrauding Chinese nationals of billions of dollars.

The letter follows Min Aung Hlaing’s attendance at two high-profile events at China’s invitation Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit & military parade commemorating China’s victory over Japan in World War II—where he joined leaders from some 20 countries, including autocrats such as Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin & North Korea’s Kim Jong Un. Junta hailed his ongoing visit as “successful & fruitful”.
Anti-regime groups have joined Western countries and international rights groups in denouncing the elections as a sham and have warned they will take military action against regime election staff.
Beijing is pressuring Myanmar ethnic armed groups along the Chinese border to cease their offensives against the regime and has prohibited them from cooperating with the NUG.