Is the Myanmar Junta following in Putin’s footsteps?
The following essay was submitted anonymously from a Burmese writer to be published on our site.
Recently, the head of Myanmar’s military junta, Min Aung Hlaing [MAL], attended the Eastern Economic Forum, where he met with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The effusive praise that MAL heaped on Putin shocked people in Myanmar and around the world. He said, “We would describe you not just as the leader of Russia, but also as a leader of the world, because you are controlling and organizing stability all over the world.” Many people saw his over-wrought praise of Putin as a plea for Russia’s backing at a time when his regime has been shunned by the international community and hit with numerous sanctions. The Irrawaddy News described Putin and MAL as, “a match made in hell” and stated that their handshake presaged “more trouble for the country.”
It is a fact that Russia has increased its shipments of military hardware to Myanmar since the coup on Feb 1, 2021. Ever since, the Myanmar military has used Russian jets and helicopters to attack not only resistance groups but also to burn villages and killed civilians, including children, such as in a recent attack on a monastic school in Lat Yat Kone village in Depayin Township, Sagaing Region. In fact, the top brass of the Myanmar military was leaning towards Russia even before the coup. A captain who retired from the military about 15 years ago told the author in 2019 that the generals have noticed they can no longer depend on China and have started looking to Russia. Indeed, even before the coup under the civilian democratic NLD administration Min Aung Hlaing and other generals visited Russia several times to bolster military ties.
The relationship has not stopped at military ties, as the Myanmar junta has modeled its regime after Putin’s, a true “match made in hell.” They obviously share characteristics like anti-Western sentiment (most Myanmar generals have a strongly xenophobic mindset), willingness to use censorship and violate human rights (which they criticize as Western ideas and claim their violations are to “protect national security or sovereignty”), bureaucratic authoritarianism and suppression of the oppositions (such as laws banning NGOs and human rights groups like the Russian laws on foreign agents, undesirable organizations, information technology, which are very similar to laws enacted by the Myanmar junta), an ideology of national greatness (“solidarity of the union” in Myanmar and the military’s efforts to exert state control over ethnic minorities), and cults of personality in the media (in Myanmar MAL is depicted as a “guardian of Buddhism), promotion of “sovereign” (in Myanmar taking the forms of extreme nationalism), and a “conservative resistance” to Western values seen as decadent, such as such as same-sex marriage and feminism.
As is evident in what they have inflicted on the people of Myanmar country since their takeover in February 2021, the junta has skillfully imitated Putin in their oppression not only of opposition forces but everyone in the country with the aim of ensuring MAL will achieve his long-cherished dream of becoming president. He is planning to adopt a proportional representation electoral system for the 2023 elections to ensure his election via the votes of military representatives and military-aligned parties. This is nothing new—the military’s proxy party, the USDP, and its allies submitted a proposal to parliament for switching to a proportional representation system several times before the coup for the 2020 general election. As Putin has pushed through substantial changes to the Russian Constitution, MAL is widely expected to amend the Constitution to ensure his presidency and the military’s continued control over Myanmar politics, under the “leading political role” they claimed for themselves in the 2008 Constitution. However, MAL’s remarks to Russian media indicate he may not even hold a general election in 2023.
Nevertheless, MAL strongly desires the backing of Russia and its veto power in the UN Security Council. His involvement in the “East-West” struggle for power is an attempt to confuse the situation domestically to defend his hold on power. There is a Burmese saying that seems meant for him — ဘယ်သူသေသေ၊ ငတေမာ ပြီးရော — which means he does not care who suffers or if the country collapses. He is willing to bow down at Putin’s feet to get his hands on military hardware, oil and monetary support from Russia’s crony capitalism to sustain his failing regime. He has been apparently following Putin’s paces and seeking “Aid & Abet” committing war crimes together. Putinism is like all other forms of tyranny, which use injustice and brutality to sustain their rule over. Yet both tyranny and matches made in hell are all destined to fail in the end.