Myanmar 2025 .... What kind of stepping stone to circa 2026 and beyond ??? ::::: Long condemned for committing war crimes the country is no longer an 'outcast' !!!

Myanmar is set for elections. 

“The election is being conducted for the people of Myanmar, not for the international community,” said the junta spokesperson Zaw Min Tun. “Whether the international community is satisfied or not, is irrelevant.”

The year 2025 would be remembered in multiple manner in international polity ... but the manner Myanmar's 'military leader' Min Aung Hlaing rushed in China and hurried to greet North Korea’s Kim Jong Un was certainly a telling moment. 

This symbolized Myanmar’s leap into a special club -- one may say the 'authoritarian apprentice'.   

China, Russia and even Belarus became Myanmar's primary political patrons. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization in China showcased a new alignment.

Min Aung Hlaing appeared alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping and also Russian President Vladimir Putin.  

But what were the traditional champions of Democracy - the west including the US doing ?

The three-phase polls in Myanmar -- the first round slated on Dec 28 is billed as the first openly contested polls in 25 years.

In total there are a staggeringly high 6,000 candidates. There are special features and a few peculiarities attached to these polls. 

The rise in Buddhist-led nationalism has seen an increase in anti-Muslim polity. Even the two main political parties - government-backed party Union of Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the opposition NLD, led by Aung San Suu Kyi - are not fielding any Muslim candidates.

Most of the handful of Muslims who are running in the election come from the United National Congress, which is calling for the end of discrimination against Muslims.  

Out of the dozens of political parties jostling for power, one stands out for being entirely female - the appropriately named Women's Party (Mon).

The group of women, based in the Mon state, say they are campaigning for gender equality and the rights of all women across Myanmar, also known as Burma.

Recently formed, the party does not have an official headquarters and is using a private house, according to Channel News Asia. 

(It may be added that in Nagaland - there is a Mon district and it is considered development-starved region and hub of Konyak tribe.)

One argument that is well understood is that with wars intensifying in Europe and the Middle East; for the western virtuous world; Myanmar’s struggle for freedom and chaos it is in has slipped down the priority list.  

"Today, Myanmar stands isolated—not friendless, but surrounded by the wrong friends. It has become a proxy state of authoritarian regimes," says an article in www.irrawaddy.com.   

Regime leader Min Aung Hlaing must feel that 2025 has been his best year yet since seizing power in a coup in 2021. Long condemned for committing war crimes including massacres and indiscriminate airstrikes against his own people, he is no longer an international outcast, thanks to China and Russia, 

Candidates Highlights :  

One of the youngest candidates to contest the election, in one of the most uneven battles, is 26-year-old Ko Thurein Shwe of the National Unity Party. He is taking on one of the country's most powerful political figures, Vice-President U Nyan Tun.  

*** 

One of the oldest candidates is Pu Chin Sian Thang. 

At 77-years-old Pu Chin Sian Thang is a well-known ethnic politician from the Zomi ethnic group. 

Does something sound familiar ? Kuki-Zo (or Zomi) are critically large, scattered and powerful ethnic group(s) in India ... with overwhelming presence in Manipur and Mizoram.  

The chairman of the Zomi Congress for Democracy, running in a remote and mountainous area of Chin state, Pu Chin Sian Thang is one of the few candidates who will not find himself up against the NLD of Suu Kyi.

The NLD, which has been criticised for running against ethnic parties in almost all the ethnic areas, is reportedly honouring a long standing agreement with Pu Chin Sian Thang by agreeing not to run against him.  

Truth and Violence:

The armed conflicts have intensified over the past year. 

** From January 1, 20025 to Nov 28 -- military air and drone strikes increased by about 30% compared to 2024 data.

** Infrastructure such as schools and medical facilities have been hit in near-daily strikes. 

*** Lately, many people killed in a military strike on a hospital in Rakhine state, which is mostly controlled by the Arakan Army -- a strong opponent of the junta in power.  

Aung San Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, which won a landslide victory in the 2020 election, was dissolved after it refused to comply with a demand to register with the junta-backed Union Election Commission. 

Dozens of ethnic parties were also dissolved. According to election monitoring group Anfrel, 57% of the parties that ran in the 2020 general election no longer exist.

This despite that they all had polled more than 70% of votes and 90% of seats.

ends