Russia joins poll dance
Despite the junta still not having set a date for an election its leader Min Aung Hlaing promised after the coup in 2021, assistance from his allies is pouring in.
On Wednesday, the deputy chair of Russia’s State Duma, Sholban Kara-Ool, pledged assistance for the poll during talks with the regime boss in Naypyitaw. Kara-Ool offered Russia’s firm backing for Myanmar’s “political transition” and discussed poll preparations, including a plan to invite Russian observers. The talks culminated in a memorandum of understanding signed by the election commissions of both countries.
On the same day, Kara-Ool held talks in Naypyitaw with Khin Yi, chair of the military’s proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). They discussed the promotion of Russia-Myanmar ties and comprehensive cooperation between the USDP and Russia’s ruling party, United Russia.
The pledge of support from Russia, a key ally and arms supplier to the Myanmar regime, comes as the junta conducts a nationwide census to compile voter lists for the planned poll. However, the United Nations and other agencies report the junta controls less than 50 percent of the country’s territory, rendering a nationwide vote impossible.
The election plan has been dismissed both at home and abroad as a sham, designed to cement military rule by manipulating the vote in favor of the USDP.
The military staged the 2021 coup after alleging the National League for Democracy (NLD) had rigged the 2020 election it won by a landslide, a claim rejected by both local and international poll observers. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and other NLD leaders remain imprisoned by the junta while their party has been disbanded.
In June, India offered its support for the discredited election, belying its status as the world’s largest democracy. India’s ambassador Aghay Thakur met with junta poll chief Ko Ko to pledge technology and training assistance for the junta’s election commission.
The junta has also received backing for the election from its most powerful friend, China. Like Moscow, Beijing is a major ally and supplier of arms to the regime.
Min Aung Hlaing also sought regional support last month, telling leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) at the 8th Greater Mekong Subregion Summit that he would ensure a free and fair election overseen by international observers.
The USDP chairman followed up by securing a pledge from strongman Hun Sen, leader of the Cambodian People’s Party, to send election monitors to Myanmar.
Dictator’s economic lie unravels
On at least two occasions this year, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing has boasted that Myanmar’s economy had picked up under his rule. But the truth finally came out on Tuesday, as he presided over a meeting of the regime’s cabinet. The junta chief admitted the economy had slumped, blaming high inflation in his first-ever speech reflecting the reality of the country’s post-coup economic plight.
Myanmar’s economy has been in chaos since the 2021 takeover, with kyat’s plunge in value resulting in skyrocketing prices for imports including fuel and pharmaceuticals. Major foreign investors have fled the country while manufacturing is in rapid decline due to instability and rolling power cuts. Food prices have tripled, taking a particularly heavy toll on low-income families. Meanwhile border trade has almost halted due to armed conflict, with only maritime trade relatively untouched.
The junta boss has repeatedly blamed COVID-19 and the ousted National League for Democracy government for the country’s sluggish economic performance, claiming he inherited an economy battered by flawed policies and the pandemic.
No longer able to conceal the truth on Tuesday, he claimed he had been misled by “wrong data” on economic indicators.
The United Nations Development Program reported in April that about 70 percent of Myanmar’s population is living below the poverty line, with the number of middle-income families reduced by half. Economists point out that economic growth is almost impossible in the absence of peace and stability.
Internet crackdown ratchets up
Growing surveillance of citizens’ online activities brings the number of people arrested for expressing opposition to junta rule to over 1,800 since 2022, a new study shows. Read more
Regime defiant over attack on Thai boats
The junta claims “materials related to revolutionary groups” were found on one of the Burmese-crewed Thai fishing trawlers that strayed into Myanmar waters on Saturday. Read more
