Myanmar Military Plans December Election Amid Ongoing Humanitarian Crisis

Since the military coup in Myanmar in February 2021, led by Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, the country has been plunged into chaos with widespread repression, human rights abuses, and mass atrocities. The military junta remains illegitimate, sustaining its control through violent crackdowns on protesters, imprisonment of political leaders like Aung San Suu Kyi, and brutal assaults on ethnic communities, resulting in thousands of civilian deaths and millions displaced. Despite Min Aung Hlaing’s recent announcement of an election scheduled for December 2025, the exclusion of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the military’s control render the election a sham, with China playing a key role in propping up the regime. Ethnic armed organizations such as the Mon people face declining influence and resources, highlighting the junta’s military might as the main determinant of political relevance. The conflict extends beyond physical violence into financial warfare, with the junta leveraging state financial mechanisms like the Central Bank of Myanmar to sustain itself amid economic decline, while resistance groups innovate funding through diaspora lotteries, war bonds, and crypto systems. The Trump administration has been criticized for its approach to Myanmar, which has been viewed as insufficiently supportive of the opposition and naive about the junta’s illegitimacy, underscoring a missed opportunity to lead international efforts toward ending the civil war and supporting democratic forces.