Protesters mark coup anniversary as West cranks sanctions up
Protesters marked the twoyear anniversary of Myanmar’s military coup with a “silent strike” in major cities and rallies overseas on Wednesday, as exiled civilian leaders vowed to end what they called the army’s “illegal power grab.”
The Southeast Asian country’s top generals led a putsch on February 2021 after five years of tense power-sharing under a quasi-civilian political system created by the military.
The overthrow of the elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi derailed a decade of reform, international engagement and economic growth, while leaving a trail of upended lives in its wake.
Myanmar has been in chaos since the coup, with a resistance movement fighting the military on multiple fronts after a bloody crackdown on opponents that saw Western sanctions re-imposed.
Myanmar’s military is due to issue a statement on Wednesday that may decide whether to extend a state of emergency, ahead of a promised poll this year that critics call a sham aimed at retaining power in the country.
Myanmar’s military took power after complaining of fraud in a November 2020 general election won by Suu Kyi’s party. Election monitoring groups found no evidence of mass fraud.
The junta, led by Min Aung Hlaing, declared a state of emergency for a year when it took power and has since extended it twice for six months, with the latest phase expiring on Wednesday.
The constitution allows for two extensions.
In the main commercial cities of Yangon and Mandalay, images on social media showed deserted streets in what coup opponents said was a silent protest against the junta.
In Thailand, hundreds of protesters held a rally outside the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok, while activists also staged a protest in the Philippine’s capital, Manila.
“We are the people, we have the future,” protesters in Bangkok chanted. “The revolution must prevail.”
The United States and allies including the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada imposed further sanctions on Myanmar on Tuesday.
Some 1.2 million people have been displaced and over 70,000 have left the country, according to the United Nations, which has accused the military of war crimes and crimes against humanity.