State of emergency extended, delaying expected polls

BANGKOK >> Myanmar’s military government announced Wednesday that is extending a state of emergency it imposed when it seized power two years ago, a move that appears to set back its plans for an election that had been expected in August.

The announcement on state-run MRTV television said the National Defense and Security Council, which met Tuesday, extended the state of emergency for another six months because the country remains in an abnormal situation and time is needed to prepare for a peaceful and stable election. The NDSC is nominally a constitutional administrative government body, but in practice is controlled by the military.

No exact date has been announced for the polls, though the head of the ruling military council, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, has suggested they could be held in August. Wednesday’s report said the election will be held after accomplishing the provisions of the state of emergency.

The state of emergency allows the military to assume all government functions, giving Min Aung Hlaing legislative, judicial and executive powers.

The announcement, on the anniversary of the army’s seizure of power in 2021 from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, will be seen as an admission that the army has failed to quell widespread opposition to military rule, which includes increasingly challenging armed resistance as well as nonviolent protests and civil disobedience. State media said Tuesday’s NDSC meeting discussed how opposition groups are seeking to take power through “wrongful forcible means” including assassinations, bombings and destruction of state property.

The constitution stipulates that to hold an election, the military has to transfer government functions to the president, who heads the NDSC, six months before the polls, which in the current case would mean Acting President Myint Swe, an army ally.