Blinded by the sun
Amid a worsening electricity crisis, Myanmar’s regime recently mandated that all new construction projects must install solar panels. On Saturday, while visiting a housing complex built for military veterans in South Dagon Township, Yangon, junta boss Min Aung Hlaing ordered the installation of solar panels on its rooftops.
He said panels should cover all suitable surfaces so the complex’s 4,000-plus apartments had a 24-hour supply of electricity – a tacit admission of his regime’s disastrous failure in power management. Twenty-four-hour electricity, once taken for granted under the pre-coup civilian government, is now a distant memory in Myanmar.
Blackouts have steadily worsened over the four years since the 2021 putsch, leaving Myanmar’s people with power for only two four-hour slots per day – and often less.
Unable to increase domestic production or import more electricity, the regime has ramped up the promotion of solar energy to cover up its shortcomings.
During his early years in power, Min Aung Hlaing unveiled grand plans for a nationwide electric rail and vehicle network. Now, he only talks about solar energy in meetings in Naypyitaw, Pyin Oo Lwin, Meiktila and Yangon. However, his solar strategy has one glaring flaw: the cost of installing panels is beyond the reach of most of Myanmar’s citizens.
Ramping up conscription
While the regime lacks clear plans to tackle soaring inflation and power cuts that are taking a severe toll on city dwellers, it is pressing ahead with conscription to maintain its grip on power, adding to their misery.
Chairing this year’s first meeting of the central conscription body on Tuesday, Defence
Minister General Maung Maung Aye announced the launch of a National Service Information Management System – a database of individuals eligible for conscription.
The junta dusted off the Conscription Law last February after suffering a string of disastrous military defeats. It mandates two years of military service for all men aged 18-35 and unmarried women aged 18-27. The regime has since trained nine batches of male conscripts to replenish its severely depleted military. Recently, it began registering women for the draft.
On January 23, it updated the Conscription Law, making it compulsory for family members to serve in the military consecutively.
It also barred conscription-age adults from leaving the country without permission. Even civil servants are now subject to the draft.
The law also requires administrators to submit lists of eligible individuals every year on December 1.
The aim of the National Service Information Management System is to ensure all eligible individuals complete military service.
Tuesday’s meeting also saw Maung Maung Aye deny reports that civilians were being abducted and forcibly recruited for military service, accusing independent media and individuals of spreading fake news. Residents have reported numerous cases of conscription abductions across Magwe, Bago, Yangon and Ayeyarwady regions.
Belarus poll lesson
With Myanmar’s regime preparing to hold an election this year, members of the junta-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) observed the presidential election in Belarus from January 21-25.
Strongman Aleksandr Lukashenko was duly reelected as president, in an election condemned as a sham by the US, EU and other democracies worldwide.
The junta delegation also held talks with Belarus’ Central Election Commission chairman Igor Karpenko, according to regime media.
In addition to arms trade relations, the two regimes have begun to deepen diplomatic ties, seeking trade and investment cooperation. In mid-January, a high-level delegation led by Belarusian foreign minister Maxim Ryzhenkov visited Naypyitaw for the first time to meet Min Aung Hlaing.
During the meeting, the junta boss elaborated on his preparations for the poll that will supposedly take place this year. UEC officials followed up by visiting Belarus to observe the presidential election.
The junta’s commission has previously observed elections in authoritarian countries like Russia and Cambodia, as well as in neighboring China. The visits cast further doubt on the fairness and freedom of their upcoming election.
Work-shy junta minister studies Arctic rescue in Russia
Dr Soe Win, the junta’s social welfare minister, failed to attend relief efforts for September’s floods and landslides that killed more than 400 people in Myanmar, including in Naypyitaw, southern Shan State and Karen State. He was absent too when recent mudslides buried many people and buildings in Hpakant. So where is he?
The minister has surfaced in Russia, studying how to respond to glacier collapses and ice-field emergencies: pressing issues in tropical Myanmar.
On Wednesday, Soe Win attended the Safe Arctic 2025 Exercise in Russia which aims to improve icy emergency responses. He observed simulated rescue operations for cargo ships stranded in ice, using modern ice search and rescue vehicles, drones, helicopters and ice scooters.
A Russian deputy disaster relief minister said Myanmar had snow-capped mountains and the drills would provide valuable experience in handling disasters on the peaks.
Tay Za, a tycoon who deals in arms for Myanmar’s military, has been developing tourism projects in Kachin State’s snow-capped mountains. When he went missing for three days during an expedition to a snow-capped Kachin mountain in 2011, his friend, former dictator Than Shwe, ordered a huge search effort.
But the northernmost part of Myanmar is barely visited by adventurers today. Meanwhile, floods, storms and mudslides have been persistent problems. Yet the junta’s minister is learning how to respond to emergencies on ice.
