Myanmar has been in turmoil since a military coup in February 2021, which led to the arrest of the country’s leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and other top officials. The situation remains tense as the military junta continues to crack down on protesters and political dissent. In addition to the crackdown, Suu Kyi is currently on trial, facing several charges that could lead to her imprisonment for over a decade. Grant Peck looks at this development in an article published by the Associated Press. Here is an extract:

Myanmar’s military government took another major step in its ongoing campaign to cripple its political opponents on Wednesday, dissolving dozens of opposition parties including that of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi for failing to meet a registration deadline ahead of elections.

Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, or NLD, was one of 40 parties ordered dissolved in an official announcement by the election commission published Wednesday in the state-controlled press. The NLD governed Myanmar with overwhelming majorities in Parliament from 2015 to 2021 before being overthrown by the military.

The party, and other critics, say the still-unscheduled polls will be neither free nor fair in a military-ruled country that has shut free media and arrested most of the leaders of Suu Kyi’s party.

Read the full article here.