Myanmar military to hold new elections after 1-year state of emergency

The Myanmar military said on Monday that it will rerun the multi-party general elections after a one-year state of emergency declared earlier in the day.

The Union Election Commission will be reformed and the electoral process in the parliamentary elections held in November 2020 will be reviewed in accordance with the laws, the military said in a televised statement.

“After the state of emergency period, free and fair multi-party general elections will be rerun and the state power will be handed over to an elected party which meets the democratic standards,’’ it said.

The statement came after the President’s Office declared a state of emergency which will last for one year in the country.

The declaration of emergency, signed by First Vice President U Myint Swe, who is serving as the acting president, was announced on the military-owned Myawaddy TV.

The state power will be handed over to Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Min Aung Hlaing, the TV said in a statement.

“The President shall declare the transferring of legislative, executive and judicial powers of the Union to the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services to enable him to carry out necessary measures to speedily restore its original situation in the Union,“Section 418 (a) of the Constitution said.

The legislative functions of all parliaments and leading bodies will be suspended from the day of declaration, it said.

Earlier in the day, Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President U Win Myint and other senior officials were detained by the military.

According to reports, the Myanmar military has taken control of multiple governments and parliaments in many parts of Myanmar.

Telecommunications in capital city of Nay Pyi Taw and some other regions and states had also been cut off.

In Myanmar’s largest city of Yangon, the city hall building was controlled by the military, and gun-toting military personnel could be seen inside the compound.

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On the streets in Yangon, Xinhua reporters saw locals were generally calm and some of them were talking about the detention.

The state-run Radio and Television (MRTV) said on its social media that it was no longer working on Monday morning.

The Yangon International Airport will be closed until May this year, according to civil aviation authorities, and all banks across Myanmar were shut on Monday.

The military has said there was massive voting fraud in last year’s parliamentary elections, and demanded postponement of new parliamentary sessions.

But the Union Election Commission dismissed the allegations last week.

The military said in the latest televised statement that the Union Election Commission failed to solve irregularities in the general elections held on Nov. 8, 2020.

The commission also declined to call a special meeting of the previous Union Parliament, which was requested by the military and the Union Solidarity and Development Party.

To achieve lasting peace in the country, the military will perform its duty in accordance with the agreements included in the Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), the statement added.

The first regular session of the new parliament sessions was scheduled to begin with convening the House of Representatives on Monday, the House of Nationalities on Tuesday and the Union Parliamentary session on February 5.

The upcoming parliamentary sessions will elect speakers for both houses of the parliament, form parliamentary committees, and elect the president and vice presidents of Myanmar.

The ruling NLD party won the majority of seats in both houses of the Union Parliament in the general elections in 2020.

(Xinhua/NAN)