Myanmar’s ruling general said on Wednesday that the military junta was only temporarily in power to strengthen democracy, and he called on the people and the army to unite against armed groups trying to disrupt election plans.
Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who led the 2021 coup, said in a speech at the annual Armed Forces Day parade that his opponents were receiving foreign support and seeking to destroy the country and thwart plans to restore democratic rule in Myanmar.
“The army, police and militia are working hard to restore peace and stability,” he told hundreds of soldiers in the capital Naypyitaw. “We need unity between the army and the people.”
The military is facing its biggest challenge since it first took power in the former British colony in 1962, fighting on multiple fronts to contain uprisings in several parts of the country and stabilize an economy flagging since the coup.
Myanmar is mired in a civil war between the military on one side and a loose alliance of ethnic rebels and armed resistance movements spawned by the junta’s bloody crackdown on anti-coup protests.
Activists and some Western countries accuse the military of committing systemic atrocities in its counterinsurgency effort, using widespread airstrikes and heavy artillery in civilian areas and alleging arbitrary arrests, torture and executions.
The junta dismissed the accusations as lies.
Min Aung Hlaing said on Wednesday that opponents were committing violence, looting and spreading hatred and that the military was being targeted with fake news by international journalists and social media users.
He added that “some powerful countries” were trying to interfere in Myanmar’s internal affairs by helping armed groups fight the army. He cited no evidence.
He also urged veterans to re-enlist as part of a new recruitment drive.
“They provide assistance to these organizations in various ways. They try to destroy and weaken the organizations that protect the interests of the people… Therefore, members of the security forces need to unite,” he said.
He reiterated that the military seized power because the 2020 election was marred by fraud and nearly 30% of the votes were invalid. Suu Kyi’s party, which won the vote in a landslide, denied the accusation. Aung San Suu Kyi is currently in prison, serving a 27-year sentence on multiple charges.
Min Aung Hlaing said the next election would be held under a more inclusive mixed proportional representation system, but he did not provide a specific time frame.
In a statement to mark Armed Forces Day, Britain’s Indo-Pacific Secretary Anne Marie Trevelyan said people were suffering “horrible violence at the hands of the military regime”. The Canadian embassy said it “condemns in the strongest terms the continued atrocities committed by the military.”
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