Myanmar military guarantees new election; protesters block train services

[snoop1130]

Myanmar military guarantees new election; protesters block train services

 

People lie down on the floor as they take part in a protest against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, February 16, 2021. REUTERS/Stringer

 

(Reuters) - Myanmar's military on Tuesday guaranteed that it would hold an election and hand power to the winner, denying that its ouster of an elected government was a coup and denouncing protesters for inciting violence and intimidating civil servants.

 

The military's justification of its Feb. 1 seizure of power and arrest of government leader Aung San Suu Kyi and others came as protesters again took to the streets and after a U.N. envoy warned the army of "severe consequences" for any harsh response to the demonstrations.

 

"Our objective is to hold an election and hand power to the winning party," Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, spokesman for the ruling council, told the military's first news conference since it seized power.

 

The military has not given a date for a new election but it has imposed a state of emergency for one year. Zaw Min Tun said the military would not hold power for long.

 

"We guarantee ... that the election will be held," he told the news conference which the military broadcast live over Facebook, a platform the military has banned.

 

Asked about the detention of Nobel prize winner Suu Kyi and the president, he said the military would abide by the constitution.

 

Despite the deployment of armoured vehicles and soldiers in some major cities on the weekend, protesters have kept up their campaign to oppose military rule demand Suu Kyi's release.

 

As well as the demonstrations in towns and cities across the ethnically diverse country, a civil disobedience movement has brought strikes that are crippling many functions of government.

 

Protesters blocked train services between Yangon and the southern city of Mawlamyine, milling on to a sun-baked stretch of railway track waving placards in support of the disobedience movement, live images broadcast by media showed.

 

"Release our leaders immediately," and "People's power, give it back," the crowd chanted.

 

Crowds also gathered in two places in the main city of Yangon - at a traditional protest site near the main university campus and at the central bank, where protesters hoped to press staff to join the civil disobedience movement.

 

About 30 Buddhist monks protested against the coup with prayers in Yangon, while hundreds of protesters marched through the west coast town of Thandwe.

 

'WORLD IS WATCHING'

 

The unrest has revived memories of bloody outbreaks of opposition to almost half a century of direct army rule that ended in 2011 when the military began a process of withdrawing from civilian politics.

 

But violence has been limited this time though police have opened fire several times, mostly with rubber bullets, to disperse protesters.

 

One woman who was shot in the head in the capital Naypyitaw last week is not expected to survive. Zaw Min Tun said one policeman had died of injuries sustained in a protest.

 

He said the protests were harming stability and spreading fear and the campaign of civil disobedience amounted to the illegal intimidation of civil servants.

 

The army took power alleging fraud in a Nov. 8 general election in which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party had won a landslide.

 

The electoral commission had dismissed the army's complaints but the military spokesman reiterated them on Tuesday.

 

Suu Kyi, 75, spent nearly 15 years under house arrest for her efforts to end military rule and is again being kept under guard at her home in Naypyitaw.

 

She faces charges of illegally importing six walkie-talkie radios and is being held on remand until Wednesday. Her lawyer said on Tuesday police had filed a second charge of violating the country's Natural Disaster Management Law.

 

The coup has prompted an angry response from Western countries and the United States has already set some sanctions against the ruling generals.

 

U.N. Special Envoy Christine Schraner Burgener spoke on Monday to the deputy head of the junta in what has become a rare channel of communication between the army and the outside world, urging restraint and the restoration of communications.

 

"Ms Schraner Burgener has reinforced that the right of peaceful assembly must fully be respected and that demonstrators are not subjected to reprisals," U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said at the United Nations.

 

"She has conveyed to the Myanmar military that the world is watching closely, and any form of heavy-handed response is likely to have severe consequences."

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-02-16

 

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[keith101]

They did not honor the last election simply because they lost taking a leaf out of the book of Trump so why should the citizens trust the Army to hold a fair election when they will lose again .

[Tropicalevo]

3 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

denying that its ouster of an elected government was a coup

But they shot people? How is that not a coup?

[simon43]

27 minutes ago, Tropicalevo said:

But they shot people? How is that not a coup?

It was simply a 'cabinet reshuffle' according to the CCP....

[Susco]

3 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Myanmar's military on Tuesday guaranteed that it would hold an election and hand power to the winner,

 

There was another news topic last week, that they had contacted the Thai government for advise.

 

Sounds as if they took good notice of it

[Benmart]

14 hours ago, keith101 said:

They did not honor the last election simply because they lost taking a leaf out of the book of Trump so why should the citizens trust the Army to hold a fair election when they will lose again .

Trump has nothing to do with this unless you can provide researchable evidence.

[spiekerjozef]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

Myanmar's military on Tuesday guaranteed that it would hold an election and hand power to the winner

Do you think the winner "might" be a particular army General  ?

[nobodysfriend]

This time , the burmese had 10 yrs in a democracy . They learned ab out what is going on outside their own country . They learned to get the infos they want by the net . It will not be so easy to ' cement ' another time the military dictatorship .

But the burmese miltary is backed by China .

And China wants to expand it's influence , especially in countries that are geographically close .

Autocratic and authoritarian leaders that suppress the freedom ( of expression ) of their own people , are on the rise .

That's worrying .

Edited February 17, 2021 by nobodysfriend

[Burma Bill]

3 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

But the burmese miltary is backed by China .

And China wants to expand it's influence ,

 

Maybe so, but I personally know ordinary Burmese people (with respect) who do not like the Chinese and I quote from Wikipedia:-

 

 "The increased economic clout held in the hands of the Chinese in Myanmar has triggered distrust, resentment and anti-Chinese hostility among the indigenous Burmese majority"

Edited February 17, 2021 by Burma Bill
additional information

[jak2002003]

3 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

This time , the burmese had 10 yrs in a democracy . They learned ab out what is going on outside their own country . They learned to get the infos they want by the net . It will not be so easy to ' cement ' another time the military dictatorship .

But the burmese miltary is backed by China .

And China wants to expand it's influence , especially in countries that are geographically close .

Autocratic and authoritarian leaders that suppress the freedom ( of expression ) of their own people , are on the rise .

That's worrying .

Yes, and did you see the reports that Chinese soldiers are deployed there now helping the military?  

[rumak]

3 hours ago, nobodysfriend said:

Autocratic and authoritarian leaders that suppress the freedom ( of expression ) of their own people , are on the rise .

 

are you referring to Faceblock and  Twatter   and  Youtoo ?

[RT555]

The vote will be even more Lopsided as the Army MESSED WITH THE WRONG GENERATION...........

 

Edited February 17, 2021 by RT555
slow connection,.