YANGON: Myanmar’s military government ended its state of emergency on Thursday (Jul 31), ramping up plans for a December election that opposition groups pledged to boycott and monitors said will be used to consolidate the military’s power.
The military declared a state of emergency in February 2021 as it deposed the civilian government of democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a many-sided civil war which has claimed thousands of lives.
The order gave junta chief Min Aung Hlaing supreme power over the legislature, executive and judiciary – but he has recently touted elections as an off-ramp to the conflict.
Opposition groups including ex-lawmakers ousted in the coup have pledged to snub the poll, which a UN expert last month dismissed as “a fraud” designed to legitimise the military’s continuing rule.
“The state of emergency is abolished today in order for the country to hold elections on the path to a multi-party democracy,” junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said in a voice message shared with reporters.
“Elections will be held within six months,” he added.
Analysts predict Min Aung Hlaing will keep a role as either president or armed forces chief following the election and consolidate power in that office, thereby extending his tenure as de facto ruler.
A flurry of statements and orders announced a new “Union Government” had been formed alongside a “National Security and Peace Commission” to oversee defence and the election process.
Both will be led by Min Aung Hlaing who will remain acting president, according to orders he signed himself.
“We have already passed the first chapter,” Min Aung Hlaing said in a speech in Naypyidaw reported in state newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar on Thursday.
“Now, we are starting the second chapter,” he told members of the junta’s administration council at what the newspaper called an “honorary ceremony” for its members.
“The upcoming election will be held this December, and efforts will be made to enable all eligible voters to cast their ballots,” the newspaper reported, paraphrasing another part of his speech.
