Union Election Commission says pro-military party wins 28 seats
The Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) reportedly won 28 seats in the Pyitthu Hluttaw, or lower house of parliament – as well as in state and regional parliaments – as the 60-day regime election campaign period began on Oct 28, according to the Union Election Commission (UEC).
An independent election analyst told DVB on the condition of anonymity that the regime in Naypyidaw, which seized power during a military coup on Feb. 1, 2021 ousting the elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government and jailing State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, doesn’t really want elections. The source added that the regime only wants to legitimize itself through its proxy political parties.
Most parliamentary seats gained by the USDP are located in townships of Kachin State and Sagaing Region, which have areas contested between regime and resistance forces. The regime has launched counteroffensives against the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Kachin State, and the People’s Defence Force (PDF) across Sagaing Region. Read more
Myanmar gets bypassed as ASEAN 2026 chair
As the 2025 chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim described the current situation in Burma as “better than before” when his nation took over from Laos. Malaysia handed over ASEAN chairmanship to the Philippines, bypassing Myanmar in its alphabetical order, on Tuesday. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. will take over ASEAN as chair on Jan. 1, 2026.
“There are still one or two incidents, but not like what we heard two or three years ago, when villages were destroyed, killing occurred, and hundreds of thousands fled. Such things no longer happen on that scale. Yes. incidents still occur, and we do regret them, but the situation is much calmer now,” Anwar Ibrahim told a media conference at the close of the ASEAN 47th Summit on Oct. 28.
Malaysia maintained its pledge throughout the year to uphold the ASEAN Five Point Consensus, a regional peace plan agreed to by Min Aung Hlaing in April 2021–following the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021–but not implemented upon his return to Burma. Anwar Ibrahim said this proved Malaysia’s persistent efforts for ASEAN to bring peace to Burma and to maintain “constructive relations” with the regime. Read more
National Unity Government accuses regime of supporting cyber scams
The National Unity Government (NUG) urged the international community on Tuesday to impose stricter sanctions on the regime in Naypyidaw for its alleged involvement in cyber scams along the Burma-Thailand border. It added that it is ready to cooperate on regional and international efforts to combat transnational crime, including cyber scam operations.
Nay Phone Latt, the NUG spokesperson, told a press briefing that the regime was responsible for supporting the Kokang Border Guard Force (BGF), which was ejected from northern Shan State’s Kokang Self-Administered Zone by the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) following its takeover of the region in late 2023.
Six BGF leaders, who were held by the regime after the MNDAA takeover, were handed over to Chinese authorities in January 2024. Nay Phone Latt cited a Chinese media report that Kokang BGF leader Wei Huairen, also known as Wei San, testified in a Chinese court that he had received protection and authorization in return for payments to the military. Read more
News by Region
KARENNI—The Union Election Commission (UEC) announced that a total of 87 parliamentary candidates in Karenni State will run in four constituencies during the first phase of the regime elections on Dec. 28, including the capital Loikaw, Bawlakhe, Hpruso and Demoso townships.
“The Kayin State People’s Party, Union Solidarity and Development Party, People’s Pioneer Party, and National Unity Party, will compete for the elections,” the UEC stated on Oct. 26. The regime declared martial law in three out of seven Karenni townships on July 31. Read more
KAREN—The Karen Nation Union (KNU) told DVB that allegations made by the regime about KNU involvement in the Chinese-backed KK Park, located in Myawaddy Township 81 miles (130 km) east of the state capital Hpa-An, were intended to smear the ethnic armed group’s image.
Padoh Saw Thamein Tun, a KNU spokesperson, told DVB that the regime’s bombing of the KK Park using Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) on Oct. 24 was merely “perfunctory.” A source who described himself as a former cyber scam worker told DVB that regime forces bombed the buildings after all had been evacuated.
MAGWAY—The People’s Defense Force (PDF) in Mindon Township told DVB that four police officers were killed and weapons were seized after it ambushed a police convoy along the Pathein-Monywa road on Tuesday. Mindon is located 90 miles (144 km) north of the region’s capital Magway.
“One out of four police vehicles were destroyed,” a PDF spokesperson told DVB. He claimed that regime forces deployed at the 5 miles checkpoint gate in Mindon town fired artillery following the PDF attack. Two police officers were killed by the PDF in Mindon on Oct. 25.
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