CNI News
9 December 2025
In Myanmar, if one does not have money when engaging in politics, it is necessary to possess political influence, said political analyst U Htet Aung Kyaw in an interview with CNI News.
The countries with strong influence tend to be powerful in political, military, or economic terms, and therefore they must make efforts to build political power and influence, which has been previously expressed by Commander-in-Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
When discussing politics, concepts of party politics and national politics often come together, and party politics can effectively be described as power politics, because political parties compete to gain state power.
If one lacks political influence and does not have money, doing politics becomes extremely difficult, and democracy is somewhat expensive, said political analyst U Htet Aung Kyaw.
Political parties
He explained:“When you do politics, even if you have no money, you must at least have political influence. If you have influence, the public will support you, and you can continue operating through party membership fees, contributions, donations, and so on. But if you don’t have political influence and you also don’t have money, then doing politics becomes very difficult. Yet there is no alternative way either. Democracy is, in a sense, a little expensive. As the saying goes, ‘Democracy is very expensive.’ So, one way or another, it is costly. If you don’t have money, you have to work harder to build political influence.”
He added that in today’s context, how the general public interprets, understands, and takes responsibility in politics has become very important. Politics, he explained, is nation-building through people with different perspectives and values working together for the national interest.
In Myanmar today, wealthy individuals are building political influence by mobilizing the public with money, said Dawbon Township independent parliamentary candidate U Kyaw Htet.
Political parties
He said:“There are gaps in public knowledge regarding democracy and politics. The political environment is such that people tend to misunderstand who is a politician and who is merely an influencer. We see that politics is being shaped by those who have money — they can easily mobilize people with money and build political influence through shortcuts. They promote themselves and approach the public as if that alone makes them politicians. Some people mistakenly think that is what politics is. The public still lacks understanding of who a true politician is and who sincerely builds politics with true political spirit. Because democratic culture is still not understood to the extent it should be, these things are happening.”
Political analysts point out that although politics arises from differing values, interests, and goals, that does not mean these differences must always be resolved through confrontation.
Under the Political Parties Registration Law enacted on January 31, 2023, any political party seeking to organize nationwide must have 50,000 members and open more than 100 party offices.
Analysts explain that this law has led political parties to rely heavily on businesspeople for financial support, resulting in business elites increasingly exerting influence over political parties and building political power within them.
