Hundreds attend pro-military protest in defiance of Covid-19 restrictions

Authorities said no more than 29 could attend the protest, but around 400 showed up

Published on Dec 30, 2020

Pro-military protestors gathered in front of City Hall in Yangon to accuse the Union Election Commission of ‘fraud’ (Sai Zaw/Myanmar Now)

Hundreds of people attended a pro-military protest organised by a nationalist party against the Union Election Commission (UEC) on Monday even though authorities had restricted the event to 29 people to prevent the spread of Covid-19, an official has said.

Htoo Kyaw, the administrator of Yangon’s Kyauktada township, told Myanmar Now that the protest would be reported to the regional cabinet for exceeding the limit on attendees.

Kyi Myint, a lawyer, told Myanmar Now the protest violated the Natural Disasters Management Law, which has been used to enforce restrictions aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19.

Around 400 people showed up at Yangon’s City Hall to protest “electoral fraud” by the UEC in last month’s poll. The rally was organised by the Yeomanry Development Party (YDP), which stood 24 candidates on November 8 but lost badly in every seat.

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There has been no evidence of major electoral fraud in last month’s poll and election observers reported no major issues.

The YDP’s general secretary, Michael Kyaw Myint, received just 437 votes in South Dagon township, where last year he led a mob of 100 Buddhist extremists to shut down Ramadan prayers. He was sentenced to one year in prison for his role in leading the mob.

Kyauktada township police station chief officer Po Tun said Monday’s protest was allowed in accordance with the law. “This was presented step by step. I don’t know if the crowd exceeded 20. We just presented it to the administrator, who then presented it to the higher ranks,” he said.

Protestors held placards that read: “People who degrade the country’s integrity by stealing votes are our enemy”.

In a speech to the crowd, YDP central executive committee member Myo Myo Khaing said that Myanmar’s people had a responsibility to protect the military-drafted constitution.

“Are we not ready to arm ourselves and fight alongside the military when the country needs to be protected?” he asked the crowd as some waved flags bearing the Tatmadaw’s logo. “We’re ready!” the crowd responded.

About twenty monks including Pyin Nya Wun Tha, a senior member of the Patriotic Myanmar Monks Network, attended the protest.

“We just want to tell the UEC that they’re liars,” he said. “They committed electoral fraud. And I want to condemn their actions.”

One of the people at the rally, Khin Ma Ma, said she had travelled to Yangon from Hlegu thinking she would be taken to visit pagodas and was not expecting to be brought to a protest.

“I only found out when I got here,” she told Myanmar Now. “I’m concerned about being here because there’s a pandemic. I wouldn’t have brought my child with me if I’d known.”

The YDP was formed in 2019 and claims to have over 8,000 members. Party chair Aye Aye Thin, who is also Michael Kyaw Myint’s wife, ran for a seat last month in Shwe Pyi Thar township but received less than one percent of the vote.

Phyo Thiha Cho

Phyo Thiha Cho is Senior Reporter with Myanmar Now.

Hay Man Pyae

Hayman Pyae is Reporter with Myanmar Now.

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Suu Kyi takes the stand in court for the first time since her arrest

The detained leader denied the junta’s charge of incitement against her at the Naypyitaw court, her lawyer said

Myanmar Now

Published on Oct 26, 2021

An archive photo of Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint (L) along with NLD patron Win Htein (second from right) and vice-chair Zaw Myint Maung (second from left) (Supplied)

Myanmar's ousted State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi took the stand at a court in Naypyitaw on Tuesday to deny a charge of incitement made by the junta, the first time she has been able to testify on her own behalf since she was detained during the February 1 coup.

Suu Kyi has been charged under Section 505b of the Penal Code along with ousted President Win Myint and ousted Naypyitaw mayor Myo Aung in relation to two statements denouncing the junta released by the National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

She also faces 10 other charges and a combined decades-long prison sentence.

Her defence team told the court earlier this month that they would not summon any witnesses in her incitement case amid concerns that anyone who testifies in her favour will be targeted by the military.

During Tuesday’s hearing Suu Kyi “was able to defend her innocence very well,” said a member of her defence team who requested anonymity.

The lawyer refused to disclose further details of Suu Kyi’s testimony because the junta has barred her legal team from speaking to the media about her hearings; lead defence lawyer Khin Maung Zaw received a gag order from a local junta administrator earlier this month.

The order came after Khin Maung Zaw told the media about testimony from Win Myint, who revealed to the court that generals tried to force him to resign on the morning of the coup and said “harm” would come to him if he refused.

Suu Kyi and Win Myint are being held at undisclosed locations and have been attending hearings every week in Naypyitaw at a court set up especially for their trials.

Aung San Suu Kyi

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Resistance fighters in Shan State offer 5m kyat rewards to soldiers who surrender with their weapons

The Pekhon PDF said it will also take responsibility for defectors’ food, security, and shelter

Myanmar Now

Published on Oct 26, 2021

A fighter from the Pekhon PDF launches a launcher towards the No. 7 Military Operation Command in September (Pekhon PDF)

People’s Defence Force (PDF) fighters in southern Shan State’s Pekhon are offering rewards of 5m kyat, roughly $2,600, to members of the junta’s forces who surrender with their weapons, the group said in an announcement on Sunday.

The offer comes after the resistance group found that family members of soldiers and police had been killed in a PDF raid while deployed as guards in the area, a tactic which may suggest the military is facing a shortage of manpower there.

The junta is trying to recruit retired military personnel in upper Myanmar, where resistance fighters have killed many hundreds of soldiers in recent months. At least 4,456 members of the junta’s forces have been killed across the country as of October 7, the National Unity Government has said.

The Pekhon PDF said it made its offer because soldiers and police are being placed in a difficult situation with orders to put their family members forth for active duty, and therefore need help defecting.

“When we raided their base the other day, we found out that they were employing the family members of the army officers as security guards with a wage of 7,000 kyat per day,” a spokesperson for the group said.

The adult children of army officers were among five people killed during Friday’s attack on a military outpost, he said.

Three of those killed were women who the PDF initially thought were soldiers but were in fact, the group said, relatives of soldiers who had been given uniforms and guns.

“That is why we are making this offer,” the spokesperson said. “We know that they had no choice but to obey the military council’s orders and that is why we are giving them a chance.”

The offer was also a chance for soldiers and police officers to stand on the right side of history, he said. The PDF would take responsibility for the deserters’ security, food and shelter, he added.

“All they have to do is leave,” he said “It doesn’t matter how many weapons they bring. We have enough donations to provide rewards for them. They just have to come here.”

“Even if too many of them come, we’ll still try to keep our end of the offer. We’d have to buy weapons otherwise anyway,” he added.

Resistance groups say fighting has escalated recently in Pekhon amid continued military assaults in the region that have led to several civilian casualties.

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Myanmar junta gets little sympathy at ‘ASEAN-minus-one’ summit

Leaders of the regional grouping said the regime had only itself to blame for its absence from this year’s annual gathering

Myanmar Now

Published on Oct 26, 2021

A handout photo made available by ASEAN Summit host Brunei shows Myanmar’s empty seat at the virtual gathering (EPA)

Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) expressed little sympathy for Myanmar’s junta during the first day of their annual summit on Tuesday.

Myanmar’s absence from the virtual gathering was a key issue raised by several in attendance, as they made it clear who they thought was responsible for this unprecedented situation.

In his opening remarks, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen accused the regime of “boycotting” the summit after it announced yesterday that it would not accept an invitation to send a non-political representative.

“Today, ASEAN did not expel Myanmar from the ASEAN framework, but Myanmar abandoned its rights with a boycott, even though we tried [to include] its participation at a non-political level,” the Cambodian prime minister said.

The controversy comes just over a week after ASEAN’s current chair Brunei informed the regime that its leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, would be excluded from the gathering due to the junta’s failure to implement a five-point consensus it reached with the regional bloc in April.

Brunei later invited the junta’s permanent secretary for foreign affairs, Chan Aye, to attend, but the offer was rejected on the grounds that it “downgraded” the regime’s representation.

As the leader of next year’s chair, Hun Sen raised the possibility that the current impasse could continue if the Myanmar junta doesn’t alter its stance.

“At the time Cambodia becomes chair of ASEAN next year, I do not know if Myanmar will continue this issue. Now we are in the situation of ASEAN-minus-one. That is not because of ASEAN but because of Myanmar herself,” he said.

Other leaders also said they backed Brunei’s decision to send a signal to the Myanmar regime over its failure to deescalate the crisis that it created when it seized power in February.

“Malaysia fully supports the decision made by the ASEAN chair on the issue of representation from Myanmar,” tweeted Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Tuesday.

The growing instability of Myanmar in the wake of the military takeover has been seen by many as a test of ASEAN’s credibility as a body capable of handling regional crises.

In August, the bloc appointed senior Brunei diplomat Erywan Yusof as its special envoy to Myanmar in an effort to push for progress in resolving a political dispute that threatens to turn into an all-out civil war.

However, a planned visit to Naypyitaw earlier this month was postponed, reportedly over Yusof’s request to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained leader of the deposed ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), and ousted president Win Myint.

Moe Zaw Oo, the deputy foreign affairs minister of Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG), said that regional leaders understand the country’s crisis is not just an internal affair, but a regional issue.

“ASEAN has many experiences when it comes to Myanmar. Some member states understand that being unable to resolve Myanmar’s issues effectively has a lot of negative consequences for ASEAN’s reputation,” he told Myanmar Now.

He added that some ASEAN member states have engaged with the NUG and that those countries understand the NUG wants to represent Myanmar people and resolve its issues.

On Tuesday, the NUG announced that it appointed Bo Hla Tint as its ambassador to ASEAN in a bid to accelerate its engagement and cooperation with the regional association.

The 63-year-old ally of the NLD currently lives in the United States and was a member of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, the government-in-exile formed by lawmakers elected in 1990 but never allowed to take office by the former ruling junta.