By nytimes.com
Myanmar’s military government on Thursday lifted a four-year state of emergency that had been in place since the army seized power in a coup, as it prepared to hold an election that would be boycotted by opposition groups.
The action did not represent a move away from military rule. Nor was it expected to result in any meaningful change for the people. Under Myanmar’s constitution, elections cannot be held during a state of emergency. The government has said it planned to hold a vote in December.
As part of the move, the head of the military junta, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, appointed himself as acting president of a new “Union government.”
“It’s essentially handing power from the left hand to the right,” said U Kyee Myint, a human rights lawyer who is in hiding in Myanmar. “But regardless of how things are restructured or reshaped, the essence remains the same: He still holds all the power.”
The military imposed a state of emergency in February 2021 after it launched a coup against a civilian government led by Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. Since the coup, the country has been convulsed by a four-year civil war as people took up arms against the government.
The military extended the state of emergency repeatedly in six-month increments, saying the armed protesters known as the “People’s Defense Forces” and the country’s ethnic armed groups posed a threat to national stability.
On Thursday, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing also formed a National Security and Stability Commission, filling its top ranks with senior generals.
Zaw Min Tun, a spokesman for Myanmar’s military, told reporters on Thursday that the state of emergency was lifted “in order to transition the country toward a multiparty democracy.”
Few people believe this to be true. The military sees the election as a way to gain some semblance of legitimacy within the country after it claimed widespread voter fraud to justify seizing power in the coup.
Holding an election, even a flawed one, could also convince some countries to normalize ties with the military government, which has become a pariah on the international stage.
The National League for Democracy, the party of Ms. Aung San Suu Kyi, has consistently said that it will boycott the elections. It calls the military-appointed Union Election Commission illegitimate and has described the planned vote as a sham.
Sui-Lee Wee is the Southeast Asia bureau chief for The Times, overseeing coverage of 11 countries in the region.
