Myanmar junta forms new government ahead of elections

The military junta that controls Myanmar nominally transferred power to an interim government on Thursday ahead of a planned election in December and January.

A state of emergency that was due to expire Thursday after seven extensions was lifted, Zaw Min Tun, a government spokesman, told state media. The decree had given legislative, judicial, and executive powers to Min Aung Hlaing as head of the ruling military council.

But state media reported late Thursday that martial law and a state of emergency would be imposed in more than 60 townships across nine regions and states due to the threat of violence and insurgency.

Despite the moves, the junta remains in power. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, leader of the February 2021 coup that toppled Myanmar’s democratically elected government helmed by Aung San Suu Kyi, holds the title of interim president in the new structure and retains his role of chief of the armed forces. He was also named the head of an 11-member commission in charge of elections.

Min Aung Hlaing said the election would take place in phases during December and January due to security concerns, state television reported Thursday.

David Mathieson, an independent analyst, framed Thursday’s moves as a cosmetic change.

“They are just rearranging the same pieces and calling the regime a new name,” he told Reuters. “Nothing will change in the near term, but this is part of preparations for an election which we don’t know much about.”

Analysts say the planned election could also have little practical impact.

“It’s the same people still in charge of everything,” Morgan Michaels, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told Agence France-Presse. “These guys are not planning to just hand over power back to the civilians.”

The 2021 coup touched off a brutal civil war that has raged across Myanmar. Established ethnic minority armies and new armed groups have mounted a persistent resistance and have gained control of significant territory.

Since the coup, the military has killed more than 6,000 people and arbitrarily detained more than 20,000, according to Amnesty International.

The war has been devastating for the military, too. As of earlier this year, the junta controlled less than half of the country. More than 24,000 junta troops have been killed and more than 12,000 wounded, according to an RFA analysis in February. Over the past year, the military has been conscripting men under age 35, sometimes snatching people off the street to fill the military’s depleted ranks. [RFA/VP]

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