CHIANG MAI: Myanmar’s ruling junta has officially postponed an election promised by August this year after its 2021 coup, state television reported on Monday night.
Junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing, in a meeting on Monday with the army-backed National Defence and Security Council (NDSC), said “necessary security arrangements” are still needed to vote and hence extended a state of emergency for six more months.
The Southeast Asian country has been in turmoil since the army’s power grab in 2021, and a subsequent crackdown on dissent has sparked fighting across swathes of the nation while tanking the economy.
The military had toppled democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian government, alleging massive fraud during elections her party won in 2020.
Earlier this year, on the second anniversary of the putsch, state media said the National Defence and Security Council had agreed to junta chief Min Aung Hlaing’s request to prolong the state of emergency that was declared when the generals toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s government.
The “state of emergency will be extended for another six months starting from February 1”, Acting President Myint Swe was quoted as saying on February 1, 2023. “Sovereign power of the state has been transferred to the commander in chief again.”
The military would always be the “guardian of the interests of the state and people… under whichever government comes,” Min Aung Hlaing had said, according to state broadcaster MRTV. “Our government will work to hold elections in every part of the country so as the people will not lose their democratic right.”
The UN Security Council passed its first resolution on the situation in Myanmar last month, urging the junta to release Suu Kyi and all “arbitrarily detained prisoners”.
Security Council permanent members China and Russia abstained, opting not to wield vetoes following amendments to the wording. India, which has close ties with the junta, also abstained.
Diplomatic efforts to resolve Myanmar’s bloody impasse led by the United Nations and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations regional bloc have made little headway, with the generals refusing to engage with opponents.
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