Malaysia says ASEAN will not certify Myanmar elections
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will not send observers to attend the final phase of voting in Burma’s ongoing 2025-26 military-run elections, nor will it endorse the results of polls, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said in response to a question from another lawmaker about ASEAN’s position on the elections in Burma on Tuesday.
Burma has been ravaged by conflict since the military staged a coup on Feb. 1, 2021. It ousted the National League for Democracy (NLD) party from government, which won back-to-back landslide election victories against the military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in 2020 and 2015. Both State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint have been held in prison ever since.
Burma’s 2025-26 elections, which began on Dec. 28, have been criticised by the U.N., several Western countries, and international human rights groups as an exercise to legitimize military rule through its proxy political party the USDP. It won the majority of seats in the first two rounds of voting in 202 of Burma’s 330 townships on Dec. 28 and Jan. 11. A third and final round of voting will be held on Jan. 25. Read more
High licence fees and route closures drive up prices
The regime’s Department of Trade under the Ministry of Commerce is being accused of practising favoritism in issuing import licences to business owners. Sources told DVB that importers must now pay 10 million MMK ($2,560 USD) to apply for a licence and renew this licence each time they import goods into Burma.
A small business owner told DVB on the condition of anonymity that he cannot afford the import licence fee and must source goods from larger companies, which increases prices. A business owner in Karen State’s Myawaddy Township told DVB that goods from Thailand are now imported via Kawthaung Township in Tanintharyi Region and Tachileik Township in Shan State.
The regime in Naypyidaw has halted all trade along the Myawaddy–Mae Sot route since August. Regime forces regained control of the Kawkareik-Myawaddy stretch of the Asia Highway on Sept. 6, but are still fighting the Karen National Liberation Army (KNLA) in Kawkareik Township on Jan. 17. Myawaddy is located 27-81 miles (130 km) east of Kawkareik and the Karen State capital Hpa-An.
People’s Party leader Ko Ko Gyi at the unveiling of his party’s campaign billboard in Lanmadaw Township, Yangon Region, on Nov. 28. (Credit: People’s Party)
Pro-democracy leader not interested in ‘populism’
Ko Ko Gyi, the founder and chairperson of the People’s Party, stated on Sunday in a video posted to social media that he has not appealed to “populism” while campaigning in the military’s 2025-26 elections, which began on Dec. 28 and end on Jan. 25. He added that he is aware any direct criticism of the military could make him popular with voters, but that he would not do so.
The former political prisoner and leader of the 88 Generation Students Group said that he has received criticism from pro-military social media accounts for not praising the military, describing such tactics as “cheap theatrics.” Ko Ko Gyi is a candidate for Yangon’s Lanmadaw Township in the Pyithu Hluttaw, or lower house of parliament, in the final phase of elections on Jan. 25.
The People’s Party won a seat in the Amyotha Hluttaw, or upper house of parliament, for Myeik Township in Tanintharyi Region on Dec. 28. Founded in 2018, the party is one of six registered with the regime’s Union Election Commission (UEC) to field candidates nationwide. It didn’t win any seats in parliament during the 2020 elections, the results of which were overturned in the 2021 military coup.
News by Region
CHINLAND—The Chinland Defense Force (CDF) announced on Jan. 12 that it has unified its four groups into the newly-formed Chin People’s Army (CPA). It stated that it will cooperate with the Chin Brotherhood, one of two Chin resistance factions fighting against the military, which seized power in 2021.
The CPA added that its objective is to continue opposing military rule by “establishing a federal democratic system that guarantees self-determination for the Chin people.” Its political wing, the Chin People’s Union (CPU), will work within the Interim Chin National Consultative Council (ICNCC).
SAGAING—Sources close to the People’s Defence Force (PDF) told DVB that pro-regime forces, including the Shanni Nationalities Army (SNA), recaptured half of Banmauk Township on Monday. Banmauk is located 235 miles (378 km) north of the region’s capital Monywa.
“We’ve lost [our positions] due to airstrikes [carried out by the Burma Air Force],” a PDF source told DVB on the condition of anonymity. A resident living outside Banmauk town told DVB that fighting was ongoing between pro-regime and resistance forces on Jan. 19. The PDF seized Banmauk on Sept. 20.
YANGON—Residents told DVB that they felt a “mild” tremor on Monday. The regime’s Department of Meteorology and Hydrology reported that two 4.5 and one 3.0 magnitude earthquakes were recorded in Yangon’s Taikkyi Township, Ayeyarwady Region’s Nyaungdon Township, and Naypyidaw’s Zabuthiri Township, Jan. 19-20.
A 7.7 magnitude earthquake with an epicenter in Sagaing Region on March 28 was one of the deadliest in Burma’s history with 4,477 killed, according to DVB data. Taikkyi is located 43 miles (69 km) north of Yangon, 69 miles (111 km) northeast of Nyaungdon, and 216 miles (347 km) south of Zabuthiri.
(Exchange rate: $1 USD = 3,950 MMK)
Myanmar’s Union Minister for the Ministry of the President’s Office Ko Ko Hlaing sits in the courtroom, as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) starts two weeks of hearings in a landmark case brought by Gambia, which accuses Myanmar of committing genocide against the Rohingya, a minority Muslim group, in The Hague, Netherlands, January 12, 2026. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
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