Burma: six months after coup, junta leader promises elections “within two years”

Published on : 08/01/2021 – 07:04

Six months after the coup against Aung San Suu Kyi in Burma on February 1, Burmese junta leader Min Aung Hlaing pledged elections “by August 2023” in a speech on Sunday August 1 .

“We are working to establish a democratic multiparty system”, assured the former army chief, again committing to the holding of a poll “by August 2023”.

On July 26, the junta annulled the results of the legislative elections of November 2020, won overwhelmingly by the National League for Democracy (NLD) of Aung San Suu Kyi, ensuring that more than 11 million cases of fraud had been detected, this that the party denies.

“The votes were tainted by the NLD which abused its executive power inappropriately,” said Min Aung Hlaing on Sunday.

Even before his passage in force, the general was already an outcast for the Western capitals because of the bloody repression carried out by his men against the Rohingya Muslim minority. He has been targeted by new sanctions since the coup.

Six months of demonstrations

“I promise to fight this dictatorship as long as I live”, “We will not kneel under the boots of the military”, posted Sunday, to mark the six months of the putsch, young opponents on social networks.

In Kaley, in the west of the country, residents marched under banners in tribute to the many political prisoners: “The songs of the detainees are forces for the revolution”, one of them could be read.

But the majority of Burmese remain locked in their homes, terrified by the violence of the security forces and the outbreak of Covid-19. The UK has warned the United Nations that half of the population, or around 27 million people, could be infected with Covid-19 within the next two weeks, calling the situation “desperate”.

>> To reread: “Burma: doctors, military targets in full resurgence of Covid-19”

Despite the political, economic and health chaos, the junta continues its repression to muzzle any opposition.

In six months, 940 civilians were killed, including 75 minors, hundreds have disappeared and more than 5,400 are behind bars, according to a monitoring NGO.

Aung San Suu Kyi, 76, begins her seventh month under house arrest. Charged with a multitude of offenses (illegal importation of walkie-talkies, non-compliance with restrictions linked to the coronavirus epidemic, corruption, sedition …), she risks long years in prison.

With AFP