Myanmar military to rule country until 2023

• Myanmar’s military government has extended the state of emergency until 2023.
• The junta seized power last year after deposing Aung San Suu Kyi’s government.
• Many people in Myanmar are skeptical that the military will host multi-party elections.

Myanmar: Military administration has prolonged the country’s state of emergency until 2023, as the country remains divided following last year’s coup.

The junta seized power last year after deposing democratically elected Aung San Suu Kyi’s government.

In the future, the military has promised to arrange “free and fair” elections.

However, on Monday, it stated that additional time was required to stabilize the country. The emergency rule gives it greater authority to detain people.

Many people in Myanmar are skeptical that the military would host multi-party elections or hand over state control to a democratically elected government

General Min Aung Hlaing’s administration first declared an emergency last August, and he proclaimed himself prime minister under the powers conferred by the order.

According to state media, he also stated that the country’s electoral system should be altered by combining the first past the post system, which Ms. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won comfortably in the 2020 election, with proportional representation.

He claimed that the influence of “powerful parties” had drowned out other political voices.

The army, known as the Tatmadaw, staged the coup after alleged widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election, in which the NLD received more than 83 percent of the vote.

International observers reported that the voting was mostly free and fair.

Ms Suu Kyi and other ministers from her party were detained by the army. In June, Ms Suu Kyi was transferred to solitary detention.

Millions of people came to the streets in mostly peaceful rallies, demanding that the military surrender power. The military retaliated by using live ammunition, water cannons, and rubber bullets.

According to one rights organization, the Assistance Association of Political Prisoners (AAPP), security personnel have killed almost 2,100 people. Thousands of political and civil society opponents are also suspected of being detained by the military.
The junta executed four democracy advocates last week, the country’s first executions in decades. They included notable democratic campaigner Ko Jimmy and Phyo Zeya Thaw, a former MP and hip-hop singer.

Outside of the capital, Naypyidaw, the military government is highly opposed, and there is an active guerrilla front known as the People’s Defence Force (PDF).

Gen Min Aung Hlaing also invited the leaders of Myanmar’s ethnic rebel forces, which have been fighting one other and the government for decades, to a second round of negotiations.

Several rebel organizations participated in an initial round of discussions in May, while others fighting with the PDF did not.

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