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Myanmar Junta to Continue Crackdown on Political Opponents PHOTOS/Reuters
NAYPYIDAW – The head of the junta Myanmar , Min Aung Hlaing, vowed not to stop cracking down on political opponents. He also insisted, the military will hold general elections .
“The military will take “decisive action” against its opponents and the ethnic rebels who support them,” Min Aung told some 8,000 military members attending the annual Armed Forces Day parade in the military-built capital Naypyidaw.
“The NUG act of terror and the so-called PDF need to be addressed for good and all,” Min Aung continued, as quoted by AFP.
He was referring to the “National Unity Government”, a body dominated by ousted lawmakers who worked to overturn the coup.
“The junta will then hold “free and fair elections” after the state of emergency is over,” he said.
Last month, the military announced a two-year extension to the state of emergency and postponed elections it had promised to be held in August, as it did not control the country enough to hold a vote.
“Calm and stability are very important” before any elections can go ahead, Min Aung said at the march.
Planes flew overhead spewing yellow, red and green smoke from the national flag and a flight of five Russian-built Sukoi Su-30 jets roared past. Women marched through the streets leading to the parade ground to march soldiers with garlands, pictures in state media showed.
Armed Forces Day is held to commemorate the start of local resistance to Japanese occupation during World War II, and usually features a military parade attended by foreign officers and diplomats.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military overthrew the civilian government of Aung San Suu Kyi more than two years ago after making baseless claims of election fraud.
The coup sparked renewed fighting with ethnic rebels and spawned dozens of anti-junta “People’s Defense Forces” (PDF), with large parts of the country now engulfed in fighting and an economy in tatters.
(esn)
