Myanmar's ruling military has extended a state of emergency for another six months, state media reported on Friday, a day ahead of the four-year anniversary of a coup that plunged the country into chaos after a decade of tentative democracy.
Myanmar has been locked in a civil war triggered by the military's overthrow of the elected civilian government of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. The junta plans this year to hold an election, which critics have derided as a sham to keep the generals in power through proxies.
"There are still more tasks to be done to hold the general election successfully. Especially for a free and fair election, stability and peace is still needed," Reuters quoted state-run MRTV as saying on its Telegram channel in announcing the extension of emergency rule.
No date has been set for the election but the junta is forging ahead with plans, despite struggling to run the country as it tries to fend off on multiple fronts an armed rebellion with its roots in a youth-led uprising that was put down by the military with deadly force. Fighting has displaced an estimated three million people, with widespread food insecurity and a third of the population in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations, whose special envoy has urged all sides to seek dialogue and move past their "zero-sum mentality.”
Despite the fighting, an economy in tatters and dozens of political parties banned or refusing to take part, the junta is determined to hold the election. Opponents of the military government plan to disrupt the ballot and have urged other countries not to recognize the outcome, saying it will be held against the will of the people.
