The military junta who controls Myanmar nominally transferred power to an interim government on Thursday before an election scheduled for December and January.
A state of emergency that was to expire Thursday after seven extensions was lifted, said Zaw Min Tun, a government spokesman, told State Media. The decree had granted legislative, judicial and executive powers to Min Aung Hlang at the head of the military council in power.
But the state media reported Thursday evening that martial law and a state of emergency would be imposed in more than 60 cantons in nine regions and states due to the threat of violence and insurgency.
Despite the movements, the junta remains in power. General Min Aung Hlaing, head of the coup d’etat of February 2021 who overthrew the democratic government of Myanmar led by Aung San Suu Kyi, holds the title of acting president in the new structure and retains his role as chief of the armed forces. He was also appointed head of a commission of 11 members in charge of the elections.
Min Aung Hlaing said the election would take place in phases in December and January due to security problems, state television reported on Thursday.
David Mathieson, independent analyst, led Thursday movements as a cosmetic change.
“They reorganize the same parts and call the regime a new name,” he told Reuters. “Nothing will change in the short term, but that is one of the preparations for an election that we do not know much.”
Analysts say that the planned election could also have little practical impact.
“These are the same people who are still in charge of everything,” said France Morgan Michaels agency at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. “These guys do not plan to give power to civilians.”
The coup d’etat of 2021 spoke of a brutal civil war which raged through Myanmar. Established ethnic armies and new armed groups have set up persistent resistance and have taken control of an important territory.
Since the coup, the military has killed more than 6,000 people and arbitrarily detained more than 20,000, according to Amnesty International.
The war was also devastating for the army. Earlier this year, the junta controlled less than half of the country. More than 24,000 junta troops were killed and more than 12,000 injured, according to an analysis of the FRG in February. During the last year, the army has conscribed men under the age of 35, sometimes torn off people on the street to fill the exhausted ranks of the military.
Includes the reports of Agency France-Press, the Associated Press and Reuters.