Myanmar’s ruling junta has officially postponed an election promised by August this year after its 2021 coup, state television reported on Monday night.
Junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing, in a meeting on Monday with the army-backed National Defence and Security Council (NDSC), extended a state of emergency by six more months.
The military had pledged to hold elections by August 2023 after it overthrew the elected government headed by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, but it cited ongoing violence as a reason to postpone the vote.
“While holding an election, in order to have an election that is free and fair and also to be able to vote without any fear, necessary security arrangements are still needed and so the period for the state of emergency is required to extend,” read the junta statement on state TV.
Myanmar has been in chaos since the coup, with a resistance movement fighting the military on multiple fronts after a bloody crackdown on opponents that saw Western sanctions re-imposed.
The military seized power after complaining of fraud in a November 2020 general election won by Suu Kyi’s party. Election monitoring groups found no evidence of mass fraud.
The overthrow of Suu Kyi’s elected government derailed a decade of reform, international engagement and economic growth, while leaving a trail of upended lives in its wake.
By Reuters
