Myanmar’s junta chief wins approval to extend state of emergency

Myanmar’s junta chief has won approval to extend a state of emergency for six more months, state media reported on Monday.

Min Aung Hlaing, who led last year’s coup, requested the military government to “allow him to serve for an additional 6 months,” according to a report in the Global New Light of Myanmar.

Members of the junta’s National Defence and Security Council “unanimously supported the proposal,” it said.

The junta had declared a state of emergency after its coup that ousted Aung San Suu Kyi’s government in February last year and plunged the country into turmoil.

It has previously said elections would be held and a state of emergency lifted by August 2023 — extending the initial one-year timeline it announced days after the coup.

The army has justified its power grab by alleging massive fraud during 2020 elections won by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD).

Last year, it cancelled the results of the polls, announcing it had uncovered more than 11 million instances of voter fraud.

International observers said the voting was largely free and fair.

Suu Kyi has been detained since the coup and faces an eclectic raft of charges that could see her jailed for more than 150 years.