Myanmar’s military regime has announced an extension to its state of emergency, effectively delaying elections the junta had pledged to hold by August, as it battles anti-coup fighters across the country.
The junta chief, Min Aung Hlaing, acknowledged that more than a third of townships were not under full military control, in comments reported by state media on Wednesday.
The admission came on the second anniversary of the army power grab in 2021, as the National Defence and Security Council agreed to prolong the state of emergency declared when the generals toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s government.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since then and a subsequent crackdown on dissent has sparked fighting across swathes of the country while tanking the economy.
The “state of emergency will be extended for another six months starting from February 1”, the acting president, Myint Swe, was quoted as saying by state media.
Extending the state of emergency pushes back the date by which elections must be held according to the country’s constitution.
The US denounced the emergency extension, with State Department spokesman Ned Price saying it prolonged “the military’s illegitimate rule and the suffering it inflicts upon the country”.
He said the US was determined to work with other countries to “deny the regime international credibility”.
Price also denounced the junta’s version of “so-called elections, which will exacerbate violence and instability and will not be representative of the country’s people”.
The army ruled Myanmar for decades after independence from Britain in 1948, and dominated the country’s economy and politics even before the coup.
And while Min Aung Hlaing reiterated a pledge to work towards nationwide elections, he made it clear the military would maintain its prominent role.
The military would always be the “guardian of the interests of the state and people … under whichever government comes”, he said, according to MRTV.
The announcement came as streets emptied and shops closed across Myanmar in protest against the anniversary, with western powers bringing in more sanctions against the generals.
Streets in the commercial hub, Yangon, were largely deserted from late morning, AFP correspondents said, after activists called for people across the country to close businesses and stay indoors.
Roads leading to the famous Shwedagon pagoda – a Buddhist shrine that dominates Yangon’s skyline and is usually thronged by worshippers – were largely deserted.
About 200 supporters of the military marched through Yangon’s historic city centre in the early afternoon, while in Bangkok about 400 anti-junta protesters staged a noisy rally outside the Myanmar embassy.
The empty roads were in contrast to the huge protests seen in the weeks after the coup in 2021, which petered out in the face of a bloody crackdown by security forces.
Min Aung Hlaing said that while the street demonstrations were gone, “violence is still here”, accusing anti-junta groups of hampering election plans.
“Terrorists are terrorising, disturbing, killing and destroying,” he said, according to MRTV.
Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch said the extension showed “Min Aung Hlaing only cares about holding tight to power, and the rights and suffering of the Burmese people be damned”.
The military justified its 1 February 2021 takeover with unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud in elections that democracy figurehead Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won in a landslide.
The state of emergency was due to expire at the end of January and the military had been widely expected to announce on Wednesday that it would prepare for the polls.
The United States, Canada and Britain announced a new round of sanctions on the anniversary, targeting members of the junta and junta-backed entities. So did Myanmar’s former colonial ruler Britain, and Australia.
More than 2,900 people have been killed in the military’s crackdown on dissent since it seized power and more than 18,000 have been arrested, according to a local monitoring group.
The junta recently wrapped up a series of closed-court trials of Suu Kyi, 77, jailing its longtime enemy for a total of 33 years in a process rights groups have slammed as a sham.
“It is clear that the junta’s goal is for her to die in prison,” French lawyers Francois Zimeray and Jessica Finelle, who represent Suu Kyi, said in a statement.
“The main wish for 2023 is we want freedom and to go back home,” said Thet Naung, an activist in northern Sagaing region, where the military and anti-coup fighters have regularly clashed.
“We have gone through many difficulties. We wanted to be happy and live freely but we lost everything. We have spent most of our time in jungles and stayed away from cities.”