Pro-democracy leader Tayzar San leads protest against regime’s 2025-26 elections in Mandalay

Myanmar pro-democracy leader, librarian, and physician, Tayzar San along with well-known democracy activists Nan Lin and Khant Wai Phyo, staged an anti-regime election protest at Zay Cho Market in Mandalay’s Chanmyathazi Township on Wednesday. A video of the protest circulated widely on social media on Thursday.

“We cannot rely entirely on armed struggle alone to win the revolution. Mass struggles and mass movements carried out with awareness, mindfulness, courage and wisdom are essential,” Tayzar San shared in a post to his social media account along with the video of the protest in Mandalay on Dec. 3.

Tayzar San, 36, is a key figure in Myanmar’s non-violent resistance to the military coup on Feb. 1, 2021. He became known after leading Myanmar’s very first anti-coup protest in Mandalay on Feb. 4, 2021. 

The regime in Naypyidaw issued an arrest warrant for Tayzar San in April 2021 under Section 505(a) of the Penal Code for his anti-coup awareness-raising activities. He has been reportedly living in resistance-controlled territories of Myanmar ever since but has staged three flash mob protests in his hometown of Mandalay.