Myanmar junta to extend state of emergency for 4th time: reports

Myanmar’s ruling military is expected to extend its state of emergency, due to expire Tuesday, according to local media reports, amid prolonged conflict with those who call for democracy after a February 2021 coup that ousted the country’s civilian government.

The junta on Monday held a meeting of the National Defense and Security Council, the country’s supreme decision-making body, and discussed the state of emergency, the reports said, though the result of the discussion has not been announced yet.

The expected fourth extension of the state of emergency by the junta would come as it allowed Thai Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai to meet Myanmar’s detained civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in early July, in the first confirmed contact between a high-ranking foreign government official and Suu Kyi, who has been detained since the coup.

Suu Kyi might may have been moved from a prison to house arrest in the capital Naypyitaw, BBC’s Burmese-language service reported on July 25, citing a source close to the prison.

The country’s de facto leader until the Feb 1, 2021, coup has been tried on 19 charges, including corruption and election fraud, and now faces a total of 33 years in prison, essentially a life sentence for the 78-year-old Nobel Peace laureate.

Citizens’ peaceful protests against the junta following the coup, which were met with harsh military crackdowns, have since morphed into armed resistance supported by Myanmar’s government-in-exile formed by key members of Suu Kyi’s political party who managed to escape arrest.

More than 3,800 people from the anti-coup camp have been killed, with over 24,000 arrested, according to the activist group Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, based in neighbouring Thailand.

The fourth extension of the state of emergency would postpone a general election, which the junta needs to hold to transfer power to the winning party in accordance with the Constitution. A general election has to be held within six months after a state of emergency is lifted.

The military chief and junta leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, spoke at a cabinet meeting on July 13 and highlighted the severity of the ongoing conflict, saying that the junta still needs to make efforts to restore the rule of law and stability in the country.