Myanmar’s new military ruler has said the army will hold a new election and transfer power to the winner, as protests against last week’s coup continued to grow.
Addressing the country on live television for the first time since the February 1 putsch, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing on Monday called on the public to prioritise facts and not feelings and repeated the claim that there were irregularities in November’s election that were ignored.
Min Aung Hlaing’s public remarks were his first since he removed Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government, in a move that has sparked widespread protests and triggered international condemnation.
The army has announced a one-year state of emergency and on Monday imposed martial law in parts of Mandalay, sections of the largest city of Yangon and other townships in Myanmar, a country previously ruled by the military for 49 years after a 1962 coup.
Also on Monday, military authorities warned of action against protesters, saying there had been violations of the law and threats of force by groups “using the excuse of democracy and human rights”.
“Action must be taken according to the law with effective steps against offences which disturb, prevent and destroy the state’s stability, public safety and the rule of law,” said a statement read by an announcer on state-run MRTV.
The generals had previously tried to justify their takeover on the grounds of election fraud and had promised a new poll.
Min Aung Hlaing reiterated that position in his address on Monday, saying the military government would form a “true and disciplined democracy” different to previous eras of military rule.
Demonstrations against last week’s coup had intensified on Monday and spread to more towns and cities, with tens of thousands joining a third day of street protests to denounce the military’s actions including the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel laureate whose National League for Democracy (NLD) party won the November polls in a landslide.
In the capital, Naypyidaw, where Myanmar’s top civilian leaders are believed to be held, videos posted on social media on Monday showed police firing brief bursts of water cannon to try and disperse peaceful protesters gathered on a highway.
Three lines of police in riot gear stood on the road as the crowd chanted anti-coup slogans and told police they should serve the people, not the military, according to media and a live feed of events.
Police placed a sign on the road saying that live ammunition could be used if demonstrators breached the third line of officers.
In Yangon, nurses, teachers, civil servants and monks joined anti-coup demonstrations. Some held signs denouncing the coup and calling for democracy, as others flew multicoloured Buddhist flags alongside red banners, the colour of the NLD.
Kyaw Zin Tun, an engineer protesting in Yangon, told the AFP news agency he was at the rally because he remembered the fear he felt growing up under the military rule during his childhood in the 1990s.
“In the last five years, under democracy government, our fears were removed. But now fear is back again with us, therefore, we have to throw out this military junta for the future of all of us,” the 29-year-old said.
Thousands also marched in the southern city of Dawei and in the capital of far northern Kachin state, Myitkyina – the massive crowds reflecting a rejection of military rule by diverse ethnic groups, even those who have been critical of Aung San Suu Kyi and accused her government of neglecting minorities.
Monday’s demonstrations came a day after tens of thousands of people protested against the coup in cities and towns across the country, in the biggest show of public dissent since a 2007 revolt by monks that was brutally suppressed by the military. A year later, the generals held a referendum on a newly drafted constitution, which made sure the military maintained considerable power but opened the door to a civilian government.
Separately on Monday, the United Kingdom and the European Union requested that the United Nations Human Rights Council hold a special session in response to the continuing political crisis in Myanmar.
“The United Kingdom would like to inform all colleagues that together with the European Union, we have submitted a request for a special session on the human rights implications of the crisis in Myanmar,” Julian Braithwaite, the UK’s ambassador in Geneva, told a council organisational meeting.
People hold up placards as they join a rally to protest in Yangon [Stringer/Reuters]
Braithwaite said the call was “in response to the state of emergency imposed in Myanmar, the arbitrary detention of democratically elected politicians and civil society by the military”, which he said had “grave implications for human rights in the country”.
“We must respond urgently to the plight of the people of Myanmar and the rapidly deteriorating human rights situation there,” he said.
Braithwaite said the backers of the special session call would inform other council members soon about the drafting of a resolution on the issue.
He said the motion had the support of an additional 19 of the council’s 47 members.
That means in principle that the request would fulfil the requirement for the backing of at least a third of the council’s members, paving the way for a special session before the next regular council session, which kicks off on February 22.
