Myanmar military leader extends rule

Aneela Siddiqui

02nd Aug, 2021. 10:34 am
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On Sunday, nearly six months after the Myanmar military leader seized power from the country’s civilian government, the country’s chief of armed forces announced that new elections would be held and the current state of emergency would be lifted by August 2023, effectively extending the rule of the military by nearly 18 months.

According to the military’s statement days after ousting the country’s elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, in February this year, the state of emergency was first declared for a year.

The junta’s state administration council also appointed Min Aung Hlaing as the prime minister of the “caretaker government,” according to a second announcement.

The general said Covid would be contained through more vaccines, extended public holidays, and what he called the harmonious co-operation of the people.

But our correspondent says dozens of medical personnel have been arrested and many more are in hiding since the coup, while people seeking treatment say the military is turning them away from hospitals and restricting access to oxygen, leaving many to die in their homes.

After the military seized power in February, a one-year emergency rule was announced.

But the nationwide civil disobedience campaign continues, with tens of thousands of workers sacked or on strike.

Gen Min Aung Hlaing insisted the country was stable, adding: “I pledge to hold multi-party elections without fail.”Just what those parties will be is unclear, with the general calling the ousted National League for Democracy (NLD) and its supporters “extremists who chose the act of terrorism instead of doing or solving it in line with the law”.