Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing again vowed to take whatever action was necessary for his regime to regain control of Myanmar as he extended emergency rule for another six months on Monday. More than two-and-a-half years after the coup, the regime is still struggling to impose control in large parts of the country.
He justified the six-month extension by saying it was intended to speed up measures to restore stability and rule of law in parts of the country experiencing “terrorist acts”, referring to the resistance movement. The regime has labeled the parallel National Unity Government (NUG) and People’s Defense Force (PDF) as terrorists.
At a meeting of his regime’s cabinet on July 13, Min Aung Hlaing also called for increased security operations in Sagaing Region as well as Chin and Kayah states, which he described as hotbeds of terrorism.
Speaking at a meeting of the National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) on Monday, Min Aung Hlaing reiterated his plan to hold a general election. Foreign governments and blocs have rejected the plan, saying any vote held under the junta would be a sham.
PDF groups and some ethnic armed organizations (EAOs) are making it difficult to organize polls in Sagaing, Magwe, Bago and Tanintharyi regions as well as Karen, Kayah, Chin and Mon states, Min Aung Hlaing said.
He also warned ethnic people not to press their demands by wielding arms.
On Myanmar’s Armed Forces Day on March 27, Min Aung Hlaing vowed to crush EAOs helping the NUG and PDFs. He has admitted that more than 130 townships across the country are outside of the military’s control, while imposing martial law in nearly 50 townships in Yangon, Mandalay, Sagaing and Magwe regions as well as Chin and Kayah states.
While it has greater firepower and troop strength than the resistance forces, which began forming and training a few months after the 2021 coup, Min Aung Hlaing’s military is stretched thin fighting a multi-front war, making it necessary for the junta chief to create incentives to buy loyalty from his soldiers.
The dictator has twice sponsored beach holidays for junta soldiers who were badly wounded in fighting with resistance forces. On July 23, he awarded medals of honor to 45 police officers in Sagaing and Magwe regions, resistance strongholds in central Myanmar.
The state of emergency was initially declared in February 2021 when the military ousted the democratically elected government of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.
The country’s constitution states that an emergency can be declared for an initial period of one year and can “normally” be extended for a maximum of two half-year terms at the discretion of the military-dominated NDSC.
However, Min Aung Hlaing has extended the emergency rule twice beyond the “maximum of two years”, thereby breaching, or at least bending, the constitution.
Washington is “deeply concerned” by the junta’s extension of the state of emergency, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Monday. Canada echoed the concern, saying the extension prolongs the regime’s illegitimate rule over Myanmar.
