Myanmar is in the midst of elections being held by its military junta that overthrew a power-sharing arrangement with Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021. The coup fueled an armed conflict that has since killed thousands and forced millions to become refugees.

The elections are being held in three rounds, one was held on December 28th with two more to go on January 11th and 25th. Voting will only be held in areas controlled by the junta.

For more information on the forces at work and how and why the elections are being held, we called on Maung Zarni, a notable international peace activist with Madison connections who spoke from the UK with Gil Halsted and Amitabh Pal here in Madison.

Zarni explained why elections are being held in the middle of a civil war, gives us a few history lessons and much more. He did an outstanding job in explaining the complexity of the Myanmar situation and relating it to other post-colonial conflicts both in the region and globally.