Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG), the shadow opposition government made up of lawmakers ousted in the 2021 military coup, has encountered quite a number of challenges this year – some out of its control, others that were arguably self-inflicted.

Externally, the military junta, which is pushing ahead with sham elections beginning on December 28, scored a number of gains. China pressured northern ethnic armed organizations to cease their offensives, stop supplying weapons to resistance groups, and return important towns to junta control. Additional demoralizing external blows came from Washington, as President Donald Trump’s shutdown of USAID cut off funds for vital humanitarian assistance and exiled Burmese media outlets. Last month, the U.S. revoked visa protections for Myanmar nationals, declaring the country “safe” and citing the upcoming “free and fair elections” as evidence.

Inside the NUG, criticisms exploded post-July after Dr Tayzar San, a prominent pro-democracy activist and protest leader from Mandalay, published a Facebook post accusing the exiled government of inefficiency and calling for urgent reform. Months later, the only response was a brief statement on November 16 stating that some of the NUG’s 17 ministries would be turned into directorates “under internal discussion.”

On December 8, the NUG finally announced a new restructuring plan. Under this plan, most of the core ministers and leaders will remain in place, although some ministers and deputy ministers were reassigned. Some ministries have also been merged. For example, Dr. Zaw Wai Soe, previously the minister for health and education, has been appointed minister at the prime minister’s office, and Ja Htoi Pan, formerly the deputy education minister, has been promoted to minister. Four ministries – commerce; communications, information, and technology; international cooperation; and women, youth, and children’s affairs – have been dissolved.

Remember, Remember, the Month of November

In September, I wrote an article likening the NUG to the hare in the classic fable The Tortoise and the Hare, noting that the hare has been stumbling quite a lot while the tortoise – the military junta – is making slow and steady gains.

These stumbles continued into November. On November 27, local media reported that Dr. Sasa – the ethnic Chin doctor who became the international face of the Spring Revolution – had resigned as the NUG’s minister of international cooperation. In interviews, he explained that he had been told since August that his ministry would be dissolved, aligning with the NUG’s........

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