Myanmar’s junta will extend the state of emergency in the country for a further six months, state media reported on Monday.
The junta first declared a state of emergency after seizing power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup in February last year.
Leader of the junta, Min Aung Hlaing requested the military government to "allow him to serve for an additional 6 months," according to a report in the Global New Light of Myanmar.
The report said members of the junta’s National Defense and Security Council unanimously supported the decision.
State of emergency since 2021
The state of emergency was declared in February 2021, after a coup ousted Suu Kyi’s government. The junta has said elections will be held, and the state of emergency would be lifted by August 2023.
However, doubts have been raised about whether the elections will be held.
The army alleges election fraud during the 2020 elections, which were won by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD). Election monitoring groups have found no evidence of fraud.
Suu Kyi has been detained since the coup, and faces multiple charges.
Since the takeover, there has been a crackdown on dissent and freedom of press. On Saturday, a Japanese video journalist was detained by security forces in Myanmar while covering a protest against military rule in Yangon, according to pro-democracy activists.
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This article was originally published on Deutsche Welle. Read the original article here.
TNL Editor: Nicholas Haggerty (@thenewslensintl)
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