Myanmar junta readies for sham poll

CIVIL WAR

- NAY PHONE LATT

This UGC photo, taken on Oct 7, and provided courtesy of Facebook user Yebaw Hlyat Cee, shows damage to a building next to the site of a military strike on a protest in central Myanmar's Chaung U township.AFP

(AFP)

Myanmar’s military leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who currently serves as both the army's commander in chief and the country’s head of state, has reshuffled the government's administrative structure in preparation for planned elections later this year.

But this merely masks the junta leader's main strategic intention: strengthening his control of the country before the polls are held. In the meantime, Myanmar's military, or Tatmadaw, has stepped up its aerial attacks on the revolutionary forces in an attempt to retake as much territory as possible before December’s elections.

Last month Min Aung Hlaing formed a new ten-member State Security and Peace Commission (SSPC) — which took over from the former State Administrative Council (SAC), which had been responsible for running the country since the military seized power was in February 2021 —while simultaneously extending the state of emergency; something he has done every six months since he seized power in a military coup four and a half years ago.

Despite these changes — which are effectively cosmetic — Myanmar’s military leader continues to have complete and absolute power, as the commander in chief and head of state. Crucially, he remains the chairman of the new military commission, which replaced the SAC, which had governed the country since February 2021.