Myanmar Military Commander Orders Extra Security Ahead Of Elections

Myanmar military commander Min Aung Hlaing/PHOTO Vadim Savitsky, mil.ru via Wikimedia Commons

JAKARTA - The Myanmar military commander ordered extra security for members and candidates for political parties as the newly formed interim government continued the elections planned for December and January.

Min Aung Hlaing, who is also the acting president of the war-torn country, asked the authorities to take steps to protect politicians and voters.

He warned of an increase in attacks on civil servants ahead of the election, the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper reported on Wednesday, August 13.

"The Senior General stressed that elections must be held without failure," the state media statement said, referring to Min Aung Hlaing's comments at the first meeting of the new commission set up to hold elections.

With opposition groups barred from running or refusing to participate, the planned election has been rejected by the Western government as a measure to strengthen the powers of the generals and is expected to be dominated by military representatives.

Last year, military-backed authorities held a national census in an effort to create a voter list, but were only able to conduct field surveys in 145 of Myanmar's 330 municipalities.

Myanmar's military this month transferred power to a civilian-led interim government to hold elections, four years after Min Aung Hlaing led a coup that toppled the elected civilian government led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

The takeover sparked widespread protests and eventually sparked civil war, in which a series of established ethnic soldiers and newly formed armed groups fought a fully armed military on various front lines.

In a meeting on Tuesday in the capital Naypyitaw, officials reviewed military operations in preparation for elections and strengthened security through the formation of a "people's security" group, the newspaper said.

The military-led council last month also introduced a new election law aimed at increasing security, which contains sentences ranging from a minimum of three years in prison to the death penalty.