Concerns Over Hindering the End of Civil War
"Declared to Ensure a Safe General Election"
The Myanmar military regime has declared martial law in certain regions due to concerns over anti-government terrorism. This comes four years and six months after the previous state of emergency was lifted.
Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing of the Myanmar military government. Photo by Xinhua News Agency Yonhap News
According to reports from international media outlets such as Vietnam News Agency (VNA) on August 1, the National Defense and Security Council (NDSC) of Myanmar announced on state broadcaster MRTV that martial law would be imposed for 90 days in some areas. The regions under martial law include Kachin State, Rakhine State, and Mandalay Region, totaling 63 out of 330 administrative townships nationwide.
In these areas, authority will be transferred from civilian administrative bodies to the military for the next 90 days. MRTV reported that martial law was declared to ensure security in regions where anti-government terrorism or rebel groups are active, and to safely conduct general elections scheduled from December this year to January next year.
The Myanmar military claimed that the 2020 general election, in which Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won a landslide victory, was fraudulent, and staged a coup in February the following year. According to a report by the human rights organization Amnesty International, the military has killed more than 6,000 people and arbitrarily detained over 20,000 since the coup.
The military regime, which has maintained its rule since the coup, lifted the state of emergency the previous day for the first time in four years and six months in preparation for the upcoming general elections. The regime announced plans to hold elections within the next six months to transfer power to a civilian government. However, former lawmakers and opposition figures ousted by the coup have declared they will not participate.
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