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Myanmar's democratic transition

The 2015 elections are seen as a crucial test of the credibility of reforms begun in 2011, when the junta stepped aside to make way for a quasi-civilian regime dominated by former generals. Democracy icon Aung San suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy (NLD) party are expected to make big gains at the polls - the first general election they have fought since they swept 1990 polls. The then-junta ignored the result. However the current constitution bars Suu Kyi from running in a presidential election, due to the foreign nationality of immediate members of her family. Since coming to power, the civilian government led by President Thein Sein has improved relations with the West while reducing its dependence on long-time backer China.

An activist holds an image of Myanmar’s ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi at an anti-coup rally in Tokyo in December 2021. Photo: AFP

Japan

Japan weighs Myanmar aid restart to counter China’s growing clout

Activists urge Tokyo to reject the request, pointing to evidence that the military weaponised previous Japanese aid vessels.

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Myanmar's democratic transition

Japan weighs Myanmar aid restart to counter China’s growing clout

Activists urge Tokyo to reject the request, pointing to evidence that the military weaponised previous Japanese aid vessels.

Did Myanmar-China talks spawn a more emboldened junta?

Son hails Aung San Suu Kyi’s spirit in moving 81st birthday tribute

China’s Xi vows support for Myanmar as Min Aung Hlaing moves to bridge isolation

Myanmar expected to push for reopened China trade routes that were restricted for fear of conflict spilling over the border.

Myanmar’s junta says things back to normal. Yangon clubbers don’t believe that

Despite the lifting of curfew five years after the military coup, party-goers still wait until dawn to sneak home.

Myanmar’s China-backed mega dam revival risks Kachin rebel backlash

Restarting the shelved US$3.6 billion Myitsone Dam project could ultimately come down to Beijing’s ‘risk tolerance’.

Aung San Suu Kyi’s son asks France to help him locate mother in Myanmar

Kim Aris says he has still not heard from his mother after she was transferred to house arrest last week.

.css-1f6sr3w{color:#727272;}Video | First public image in years of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi

Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi moved from prison to house arrest State media broadcast the first public image of Suu Kyi in years, but son demands proof of life.

Why Myanmar’s token amnesties are ‘no cause for celebration’

Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi is now due for release in 2043 – provided she survives to the age of 97.

Myanmar president seeks peace talks by July 31, 2 rebel groups reject offer

Of the rebel groups that Min Aung Hlaing mentioned in his offer, the Karen National Union and the Chin National Front have rejected his call.

Myanmar frees Win Myint, cuts Aung San Suu Kyi’s prison term in amnesty deal

Newly elected president Min Aung Hlaing also commuted all death sentences and released 4,300 prisoners to mark the Thingyan new year.

Why Myanmar top general’s exit is window dressing to cement military rule

Min Aung Hlaing, who has resigned from the armed forces, is set to get approval from the military-allied parliament to become president.

Video | Myanmar’s junta chief set to continue rule as civilian president

With the military controlling parliament, Min Aung Hlaing is widely expected to be elected president.

Myanmar paves way for junta chief to be civilian president

Min Aung Hlaing has ruled Myanmar since 2021 when he ordered a coup toppling the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi.

India detains 6 Ukrainians, 1 American suspected of training Myanmar rebels

The seven are also suspected to have illegally transported a ‘huge consignment of drones from Europe’ into India for use in Myanmar.

.css-1pcrwvc{color:#2aa191;}Opinion | Myanmar’s junta staged an election. It couldn’t stage legitimacy

A closer look at the vote raises doubts about whether the generals can hold the country hostage in the long term.

Myanmar convicts charged as ‘terrorists’ by junta freed in mass amnesty

Activists and armed groups fighting the junta have been labelled ‘terrorist’ outfits, and punished with life prison terms and possible death sentences.

Why China’s Myanmar dilemma still persists, 5 years and 1 election later

Old concerns about stability and security linger as other big players vie for sway over Myanmar’s rare earth bounty and strategic location.

Myanmar rebel leader Bo Nagar surrenders to junta amid resistance infighting

The Burma National Revolutionary Army leader’s surrender is a dramatic reminder of fractures within the armed resistance movement.

Thailand wants to act as ‘bridge’ for Myanmar’s return to Asean fold

Myanmar’s junta leaders have been excluded from Asean summits since the 2021 military coup that toppled a democratic administration.

Myanmar junta pledges to remove former civil servants from blacklists

After the military snatched power in a 2021 coup, tens of thousands of public workers left their posts in a surge of civil disobedience.

‘What was the point?’: Myanmar’s loaded election brings win for junta allies

Disenfranchised citizens and migrants dismiss the election as a meaningless exercise designed solely to validate the military’s iron grip.

Video | Can Myanmar’s elections bring an end to its civil war?

International observers and bodies have slammed the elections as a sham that is neither free nor fair.

Asean urged to rethink stance as Myanmar election risks normalising junta rule

The bloc should encourage Indonesia’s approach of engaging key stakeholders in efforts to resolve the Myanmar crisis, observers say.

Myanmar’s pro-junta party wins Aung San Suu Kyi’s seat: ‘surprise no one’

The military-backed party claims to have won 90 per cent of the available seats so far in a poll activists have derided as ‘engineered’.

Myanmar’s junta proxy party takes decisive lead in first phase of voting

To mark the country’s 78 years of independence, the military is also releasing over 6,000 prisoners.

Myanmar military-backed party leads in election’s first phase by wide margin

The Union Solidarity and Development Party, led by retired generals, won 38 of 40 seats in the lower house.

‘They always lie’: pro-military party claims big lead in Myanmar’s disputed vote

The overwhelming lead claimed by the USDP in the first poll phase is met with condemnation from rights groups warning of a rigged process.

Video | First public image in years of Myanmar’s Aung San Suu Kyi

Opinion | Myanmar’s junta staged an election. It couldn’t stage legitimacy