Myanmar junta extends state of emergency by 6 months

NAYPYIDAW

Myanmar's junta on Wednesday extended extend a state of emergency by six months, again delaying fresh elections the junta has promised to hold.

All the members of the junta-stacked National Defence and Security Council "unanimously decided to extend the period of the state of emergency for another six months," according to broadcaster MRTV.

The military seized power after making unsubstantiated allegations of fraud in 2020 elections which Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) won in a landslide.

It has extended the state of emergency multiple times since as it struggles to crush armed opposition to its coup by established ethnic minority armed groups and newer pro-democracy "People's Defence Forces".

Myanmar's military-drafted 2008 constitution, which the junta has said is still in force, requires authorities to hold fresh elections within six months of a state of emergency being lifted.

Since the coup fighting between the military and its opponents has forced 2.7 million people to flee their home, according to the United Nations.

Since the coup fighting between the military and its opponents has forced 2.7 million people to flee their home, according to the United Nations.

More than 5,400 people have been killed and 27,000 arrested in the junta's crackdown on dissent since the coup, according to a local monitoring group.

The junta has said it will hold fresh elections in 2025.

But critics say the proposed polls will be neither free nor fair.