Myanmar: Junta Extends State of Emergency

Facts

• Myanmar's military leaders announced on Wednesday — two years after taking over the country — a six-month extension to a state of emergency, a move that would likely delay elections the government vowed to hold by August.
• The announcement made on state-run media stated that the National Defense and Security Council agreed in a meeting on Tuesday that the country remains in an abnormal situation and time is needed to prepare for a peaceful and stable election.
• This comes as opposition demonstrators held a "silent strike" to mark two years since the ousting of Aung San Suu Kyi, urging people to stay indoors and businesses to close, while Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US coordinated a new round of sanctions against the junta.
• Suu Kyi's government was overthrown on Feb. 1, 2021, as the military declared a two-year-long state of emergency amid allegations of widespread election fraud after her party achieved a landslide victory.
• After the military junta took over the country, large parts of Myanmar descended into chaos and a civil war erupted. Some 1.5M people have reportedly been displaced, with the UN believing that around 15M people are facing food insecurity.
• More than 2.9K people have been killed and 18K have been arrested, according to a local monitoring group, as a direct consequence of the military's crackdown on dissent, including Suu Kyi who has been sentenced to 33 years in prison following a series of closed-court trials.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Independent, BBC News, RFI, and CBS.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by UN News. The international community must remain firm against Myanmar's illegal and illegitimate military rule, imposing further coordinated sanctions on the junta and supporting the pro-democracy shadow National Unity Government. Because the nationwide human rights, humanitarian, and economic crisis resulting from the coup remains, a peaceful and democratic transition is impossible.
• Narrative B, as provided by Global New Light of Myanmar. Due to its commitment to restoring perpetual peace and stability in Myanmar, the State Administration Council had no option other than to extend the state of emergency as insurgents and terrorists are trying to seize power. In addition, this move is needed also to ensure correct voter lists for the upcoming election.