The National Unity Government of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar (; abbreviated NUG) is an internationally unrecognized government-in-exile of Myanmar formed by the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), a group of elected lawmakers and members of parliament ousted in the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état. It includes representatives of the National League for Democracy (the deposed ruling party of former state counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi), ethnic minority insurgent groups, and various minor parties.
The State Administration Council (SAC), the country's ruling military junta from 2021 to 2025, declared the NUG illegal and a terrorist organization, while the NUG designated the Tatmadaw and its affiliated organizations as terrorist organizations under Section 3 of Myanmar's Counter-Terrorism Law.
In May 2021, the NUG announced the formation of a "People's Defense Force", and in September the launch of a defensive war and nationwide revolution against the military junta. As of September 2021, the NUG had established representative offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Norway, France, Czech Republic, Australia, and South Korea, though these are not recognized diplomatic missions of Myanmar. On 1 February 2022, the Foreign Affairs Ministry of the NUG appointed Saw Ba Hla Thein as the first representative to Japan.
Although the NUG is widely described as a government-in-exile, it has not declared a temporary capital in another country or in Myanmar, and instead conducts its operations remotely and from hiding within Myanmar.
History
Following the 1 February 2021 military coup, a Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (the Myanmar legislature) was created by members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) who had been elected as lawmakers in the 2020 general election. It claimed to be the legitimate legislative authority for Myanmar. It named a set of office-holders of the National Unity Government on 16 April, which included members of the NLD, other parties and independents.
The NUG immediately sought international recognition as the government of Myanmar and gained much support from the people of Myanmar. When the NUG was announced, its designated minister for home affairs and immigration, Lwin Ko Latt, stated that he expected recognition by several countries soon. The International Trade Union Confederation called for recognition of the NUG by governments and the United Nations, and the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights, a group of pro-human rights lawmakers within ASEAN countries, called on ASEAN to invite to the ASEAN Leaders Meeting on 24 April the NUG rather than representatives of the military junta.
In April 2021, the NUG established Public Voice Television (PVTV) as a media outlet for the NUG, the CRPH, and NUCC. PVTV hosts a series of programmes, including a satirical show called People's Voice TV, and news reports.
On 5 May 2021, the NUG announced the formation of the People's Defense Force as its armed wing to launch an armed revolution against the military junta, which designated it a terrorist organization on 8 May.
On 7 September 2021, the NUG announced the launch of a defensive war against the military junta, and urged the citizens to revolt against the junta in every corner of the country.
On 6 October 2021, Malaysia's foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah warned the Burmese military it was prepared to hold official talks with the NUG if the military did not cooperate with the terms of ASEAN's five-point consensus. On 24 October, the Foreign Affairs Ministry appointed Bo Hla Tint, who had served as a minister in the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, as an ambassador to ASEAN.
On 26 April 2022, Lwin Ko Latt, the Minister of Home Affairs and Immigration, announced the formation of the Bureau of Special Intelligence. The announcement also mentioned that due to arbitrary arrests, torture, killings, and other acts by the SAC within the country through the exercise of people's power, the Bureau of Special Intelligence was set up to build national security that would ensure the social security and socio-economic development of the people while preventing violence.
On 7 September 2022, NUG acting president Duwa Lashi La stated that the regime had lost control of half of the country, noting that NUG had formed over 300 PDF battalions, and township public defence forces in 250 of the country's townships, while approximately 1,500 resistance fighters had died since the coup.
On 6 February 2023, NUG stated that it had restored internet access in at least 15 townships where the junta had cut off access since 2021. NUG spokesman Nay Phone Latt also added that they were providing access without using the junta's infrastructure. On 13 February, the NUG opened an official liaison office in Washington, DC to engage with the American government.
On 17 September 2023, the NUG's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environmental Conservation (MONREC) stated it dissolved the Myanmar Gems and Jewellery Entrepreneurs Association (MGJEA) for providing tax revenue to the SAC.
In April 2024, a significant blow to the Myanmar junta, an anti-army alliance launched drone strikes on military targets in the capital, Naypyidaw. NUG confirmed the strikes, causing casualties. The attack targeted the airport compound, about 25 km southwest of military headquarters.
In September 2024, the Indian Council of World Affairs invited representatives of the NUG, Arakan Army, Chin National Front, and Kachin Independence Army to participate in a mid-November seminar on "Constitutionalism and Federalism".Exclusive: India extends unprecedented invite to Myanmar's anti-junta forces, sources say. Reuters. September 23, 2024. Wa Lone and Devjyot Ghoshal
In January 2025, Lwin Ko Latt stated that the NUG will be headquartered in Sagaing Region and ministerial offices would be opened in this month in the liberated areas within the region.
Reportedly, NUG and EAOs in Kachin, Chin, and Kayah states held meetings from 23 to 25 January 2026 to discuss forming a unified coalition. On 30 March 2026, NUG and the CRPH founded the Steering Council for the Emergence of a Federal Democratic Union (SCEF) along with the Kachin Independence Organisation, Chin National Front, Karenni State Interim Executive Council, and the Karen National Union.
On the week of 19-26 July 2026, the SCEF held talks with the Spring Revolution Alliance, New Mon State Party (Anti-Military Dictatorship), Arakan Army, and Pa-O National Liberation Army to discuss cooperation, policies, and international outreach.
International relations In April 2021, Building and Wood Workers' International announced its support of NUG and called for the international community to recognise NUG's legitimacy.
In September 2021, in the lead up to the 76th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), the UN had been expected to make a formal decision on recognizing the legitimate government of Myanmar. Ahead of the UNGA, major global labour unions issued a statement calling for a global day of action for Myanmar, specifically calling on international governments to recognise NUG and for humanitarian assistance to be provided solely through NUG channels.
On 5 October 2021, the French Senate unanimously passed a resolution to formally recognize the NUG as the official government of Myanmar, and sent it to the National Assembly for passage. On 7 October 2021, the European Parliament adopted a resolution that recognizes the CRPH and the NUG as the only legitimate representatives of Myanmar. The NUG falsely characterized these actions as tantamount to formal recognition as the legitimate government of Myanmar, which would have required additional steps.
Since ASEAN implemented the Five-Point Consensus with respect to the Myanmar situation in April 2021, the military-led State Administration Council has not honoured its commitment to the peace plan. ASEAN member states, particularly Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, have publicly expressed their dissatisfaction with SAC's continued intransigence. In May 2022, Malaysia's foreign minister, Saifuddin Abdullah, publicly called on ASEAN member states to begin informally engaging NUG. The suggestion prompted a protest from SAC. On 20 September 2022, Malaysia became the first ASEAN member state to informally engage with the competing NUG, though ASEAN itself never allowed the NUG to represent Myanmar at any of its summits.
The NUG has called on the People's Defence Force to not target Chinese projects. Additionally, it reportedly sent congratulatory letters to Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping after the 20th CCP National Congress in October 2022. In January 2024, it published a 10-point policy paper on China, describing it as "a specifically important country, not only for close, profound historical ties between the two countries but also for China's status as a global superpower". It also pledged support the one-China principle and expand economic ties.
In November 2021 and December 2023, the Inter-Parliamentary Union affirmed that the NUG's parent organisation, the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw, is the legitimate interlocutor for Myanmar and its members are able to participate in the official business of the IPU as observers.Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw Official Website/
On 24 July 2026, Zin Mar Aung and founder of the Burma Research Institute, Zo Tum Hmung, briefed American Representatives in the Rayburn House Office Building. They urged lawmakers to exert pressure on the Union Government of Myanmar to provide independent verification on Aung San Suu Kyi's health and to collaborate with the NUG/EAO coalition under the SCEF on the fraud factory issue. Failure to achieve diplomatic recognition Despite heavy early interest from Western democracies in supporting the NUG, which involved informal meetings with Western officials, formal recognition as the legitimate government of Myanmar by the United Nations nor any single country never materialized, with analysts including Catherine Renshaw of Western Sydney University concluding by 2023 that the effort had failed. The NUG inaccurately attempted to portray meetings with foreign officials and supportive statements from bodies such as the European Parliament as tantamount to recognition of the NUG as the legitimate government of Myanmar. Renshaw wrote that the NUG's legitimacy in terms of popular support was usually accepted by Western officials, but that governments were highly skeptical of its ability to achieve its goals, and some also raised concerns about the participation of NLD politicians seen (at least previously) as sympathetic to the Rohingya genocide. While the United Nations has allowed Kyaw Moe Tun, who was appointed Myanmar's permanent representative to the UN in 2020 by Win Myint, to remain in his post, and Kyaw Moe Tun has aligned himself with the NUG, UN official Richard Gowan has stated that he is not a representative of the NUG at the UN, and the UN has rejected NUG attempts to appoint a replacement. In 2021, a deal was made involving China, the United States, and Kyaw Moe Tun that Kyaw Moe Tun would remain in office and the Tatmadaw would be blocked from sending a representative to speak at the UN General Assembly, on the condition Kyaw Moe Tun would not speak either. NUG representatives have also been blocked from representing Myanmar at ASEAN events.
Criticism