Ruling military of Myanmar declared another six-month extension of emergency rule on Tuesday, postponing elections it had vowed to hold this year. Myanmar has now entered its fifth year of political crisis since the army overthrew the democratically elected government on February 1, 2021, reversing years of democratic progress.

The military did not establish a date for the elections, thereby propelling much speculation over its grip on power. Initially, the coup encouraged mass protests but eventually heralded armed resistance movements. Myanmar’s ethnic minority militias and people’s defense forces now occupy much of Myanmar, becoming the biggest threat the junta has faced since it took power.

Myanmar Military Cites Need for ‘Stability’ Before Elections

According to state-run MRTV television, Friday saw the unanimous agreement of extending emergency rule on the part of the National Defense and Security Council. Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, head of Myanmar’s military government, said the country must regain stability before holding elections.

The council, constitutionally an administrative body, runs the country under military control. The military-drafted constitution of 2008 granted the military emergency rule for one year with two six-month extensions before elections. Friday’s extension was the seventh time the military would extend its rule, however, raising doubts that the military ever intended to hold elections.

International Condemns the Military Junta

UN human rights special rapporteur Tom Andrews condemned the military grip on power. He said that Myanmar is “cast into an abyss” due to four years of military oppression, violence, and incompetence.

The conflict has displaced more than 3.5 million people, according to United Nations estimates. “Junta forces have slaughtered thousands of civilians, bombed and burned villages, and displaced millions of people. More than 20,000 political prisoners remain behind bars. The economy and public services have collapsed. Famine and starvation loom over large parts of the population,” Andrews added.

The military under the emergency rule has been entrusted with absolute powers over Myanmar’s legislative, judicial, and executive activities. The junta had initially announced elections in August 2023 but postponed them multiple times and now claims that they may take place in 2025. However, constitutional provisions declare that it shall transfer all the affairs of the government to the president six months before the election.

Opposition Groups Reject Military Elections

Most of them think that the planned elections are merely a ploy to legitimate military rule rather than a real democratic process. These critics further argue that the elections will neither be free, nor fair due to the lack of a free press and several opposition leaders under arrest. These include her party members, NLD.

Moe Zaw Oo, a shadow member of the National Unity Government (NUG) opposition, stated that no one from any organization on the side of the revolutionary forces would accept the illegal election that the military was planning to hold. “We may disagree on other things, but as far as the issue of the election is concerned, the revolutionary forces are all on the same page and straightforward about it, We don’t accept that at all,” he said in an online news conference.

As the military continued to consolidate its hold on power, with increasing opposition continuing conflicts and international condemnation, Myanmar’s future was uncertain.