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Home Specials Junta Watch

Junta Watch: Wooing Public While Bombing Them; Steeling for Failure; and More

The Irrawaddy by The Irrawaddy
June 22, 2024
in Junta Watch
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Junta Watch: Wooing Public While Bombing Them; Steeling for Failure; and More

Junta boss Min Aung Hlaing presides over a ceremony in the garrison town of Meiktila on June 16. / MWD

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Calling for unity between civilians and military

Min Aung Hlaing meets with military personnel and their families during his visit to Meiktila. / MWD

When junta boss Min Aung Hlaing visited the garrison town of Meiktila a few days ago, he called for unity within the military and urged personnel to mobilize public support until the armed forces become “indivisible from the people”.

This lofty ambition prompts a simple question: How can Min Aung Hlaing expect to forge unity between the military and Myanmar’s people after the terror campaigns he has ordered against civilians, plus the arbitrary jailing of thousands of citizens over the past three years?

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The junta boss should instead question whether his soldiers in uniform can walk with their heads held high in public places today.

More understandable is his call for the depleted military to stick together, given it has suffered months of heavy casualties, desertions, defections and a recruitment crisis.

During the same trip, he vowed that the poll he promised following his coup in 2021 would be held next year after voter lists were compiled based on a census scheduled in October.

Min Aung Hlaing has a strong record of hubris and ignorance, but these have hit new levels with his pledge to conduct an election despite losing control of over half the country and displacing more than 3 million people.

His army has ceded large swaths of territory in ethnic areas and continues to lose ground in other conflict zones across the country, while conducting a scorched earth campaign against rural populations.

Observers even doubt he has the resources to organize a successful poll in Myanmar’s commercial hub of Yangon.

Steel dreaming despite Russian muscle

Junta-appointed Shan State chief minister Aung Aung and Russian Ambassador Iskander Azizov hold talks in Taunggyi, Shan State on Wednesday. / MOI

Russian ambassador to Myanmar Iskander Azizov visited the Russia-backed Pinpet steel plant in southern Shan State on Wednesday, a reminder that the regime is struggling to finish the project despite help from Moscow.

Since his coup in 2021, Min Aung Hlaing has been pushing to restore the steel plant with Russia’s assistance, desperate to reduce US dollar expenditures on iron and steel imports.

The plant, located near the Shan State capital Taunggyi, is a joint project operated by the military-owned Myanmar Economic Corporation (MEC) and Tyazhpromexport, a subsidiary of Russia’s state-owned conglomerate Rostec.

The Russian ambassador also met for talks with junta-appointed Shan State chief minister Aung Aung at the Shan State’s government office in Taunggyi. He promised to help kickstart operations at the plant.

The junta boss has frequently blamed the National League for Democracy government he ousted for what he describes as its thoughtlessness in suspending the project in 2017 when it was already 98.86 percent complete.

However, Min Aung Hlaing been unable to complete the remaining 1.14 percent over the past three years.

Min Aung Hlaing vows nationwide poll in 2025

Min Aung Hlaing (center) with junta staff and community representatives in Meiktila Township, Mandalay Region, on June 16, 2024. / Cincds

The regime leader failed to explain how a general election could be held while his forces are in retreat.

Read more

Beijing envoy arrives as China interests threatened  

China’s special envoy to Myanmar Deng Xijun, left, meets junta foreign minister Than Swe on Tuesday in Naypyitaw.

With the threat of conflict reigniting on its border in northern Shan State and its investments in Rakhine State at increased risk, Beijing sends special envoy to Naypyitaw for talks. Read more 

Regime exposed over killing of senior monk

Buddhist monks pay their respects to Sayadaw Bhaddanta Munindabhivamsa as he lies in state.

In a viral video, a monk who survived the incident explains that junta troops shot dead Sayadaw Bhaddanta Munindabhivamsa. The junta blamed the killing on a PDF group. Read more

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