Myanmar Military Regime Leader Will Extend Emergency Rule By Six Months, What For?

JAKARTA - Myanmar's military regime leader Senior General Min Aung Hlaing will extend the state of emergency in the country for another six months, state media said on Monday.

The media also reported that the military regime's national defense and security council had approved the plan

The military regime first declared a state of emergency after seizing power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup in February last year.

"Members (of the security council) unanimously supported the proposal to extend the period of the declared state of emergency for another six months," the Global New Light of Myanmar reported.

"In our country, we must continue to strengthen the 'genuine and disciplined multi-party democratic system' which is the will of the people," the paper quoted General Senor Min Aung Hlaing as saying.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the coup, with conflict spreading across the Southeast Asian nation after the army crushed most of the peaceful protests in cities.

Meanwhile, the military regime said it had taken power due to vote rigging in the November 2020 general election which was easily won by Aung San Suu Kyi's Nobel-winning party, the National League for Democracy (LND). The election monitoring group found no evidence of mass fraud.

The military regime has promised to hold new elections by August 2023, although the schedule has slipped and opponents do not believe the planned elections will be free and fair.

The Myanmar Coup. VOI editors continue to unify the political situation in one of the ASEAN member countries. Civilian casualties continued to fall. Readers can follow news about the Myanmar military coup by tapping this link.