Myanmar’s military government announced Thursday it was ending the state of emergency it first declared after seizing power 4 1/2 years ago and restructuring its administrative bodies to prepare for a new election at the end of the year.
The plans for the polls on an unspecified date in December face serious obstacles, including a civil war raging over most of the country and vows by opponents of military rule to derail the election because they believe it can be neither free nor fair.
Under the restructuring, the head of the military government, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, gives up two posts but will serve in other positions that keep him at the center of power. Despite losing his post as chief of the now-dissolved council and relinquishing the job of prime minister to his advisor, Gen. Nyo Saw, Min Aung Hlaing will exercise more influence as Myanmar’s acting president with increased authority under the restructuring.
Critics say the elections will not be democratic because there is no free media and most leaders of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party have been arrested. The plan is widely seen as an attempt to legitimize and maintain the military’s rule.
The National Unity Government, which calls itself the country’s legitimate government and serves as an opposition umbrella group, and the powerful ethnic armed groups that have been fighting the central government for greater autonomy have said they would seek to deter the election.
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