The ruling army has extended the state of emergency in Burma for another six months, official media announced on Monday (August 1st). The junta had declared a state of emergency, which gives it full powers, in the wake of the February 1, 2021 coup that overthrew civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing, in place since the putsch, asked members of the military government “to leave him in office for six more months”until February 2023, according to the Global New Light of Myanmar. The eleven members of the National Defense and Security Council have “supported his proposal unanimously”reported the state daily.
“Reform” of the electoral system
The army justified its coup in February by citing massive fraud in the general elections won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s pro-democracy party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), in November 2020. also promised a new vote within a year.
In a speech broadcast Monday morning, Min Aung Hlaing did not mention a date. He said that Burma must first be “peaceful and stable” to hold elections. The general mentioned a “reform” of the electoral system, by replacing the uninominal majority ballot which favored the LND, by a proportional mode. The Burmese junta, regularly accused of atrocities, continues a bloody repression against its opponents.