- It’s the second anniversary of the coup.
- Western powers initiated a new round of sanctions against the generals.
- A resident of Mandalay’s second city told that it was similarly calm.
Streets emptied and shops closed in protest across Myanmar‘s street on Wednesday, the second anniversary of the coup that toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s government, with the junta hinting it may extend a state of emergency and delay new elections.
Myanmar has been in chaos since the military’s takeover of power and a deadly crackdown on dissent, which ignited warfare across large swaths of the country and destroyed the economy.
On the anniversary, Western powers initiated a new round of sanctions against the generals, although prior rounds showed little promise of destabilizing the junta.
According to correspondents of sources, streets in commercial hub Yangon were almost empty by late morning as activists urged people across the country to halt businesses and stay indoors from 10 a.m. (0330 GMT) to 4 p.m.
Most buses on city roadways were empty, and there was a considerable security presence.
A resident of Mandalay’s second city told that it was similarly calm.
“There are a few people walking here and there in neighborhoods but almost no activity on the main roads,” the resident said, requesting anonymity.
Images in local media revealed deserted streets in Mawlamyine, Myanmar’s easternmost city.
Later Wednesday, a pro-military group of “patriots, military fans, monks, and the people” planned to march through downtown Yangon.
The US embassy in the capital has issued a warning about “increased anti-regime action and violence” in the days leading up to the anniversary.
Around 300 protestors gathered outside Myanmar’s embassy in Bangkok, some yelling anti-military slogans and holding photos of Aung San Suu Kyi.
Unrest and violence
The military justified their power grab on February 1, 2020, with unproven charges of extensive fraud in the elections won by Suu Kyi’s party by a landslide.
The junta-imposed state of emergency was slated to expire at the end of January, after which the constitution requires officials to begin planning for new elections.
But on Tuesday, the junta-stacked National Defence and Security Council gathered to examine the state of the nation and found it “had not returned to normalcy yet”.
Junta opponents, including the anti-coup “People’s Defence Forces” (PDFs) and a shadow government dominated by lawmakers from Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) had tried to seize “state power by means of unrest and violence”, the council said.
The “necessary announcement will be released” on Wednesday, it added, without giving details.
We lost everything
The United States, Canada, and Britain announced a new round of sanctions on the anniversary, targeting members of the junta and junta-backed entities.
Myanmar’s former colonial ruler Britain targeted, among others, companies supplying aviation fuel to the military and enabling its “barbaric air raiding campaign in an attempt to maintain power”.
Australia also announced its first sanctions, aimed at 16 members of the junta “responsible for egregious human rights abuses” and two sprawling, military-controlled conglomerates.
US sanctions also targeted the junta-approved election commission, which last week gave political parties two months to re-register, in a sign the military appeared to be going for fresh polls.
But with armed resistance raging across swathes of the country, analysts say people in many areas are unlikely to vote — and run the risk of reprisals if they do.
A United Nations special envoy said Tuesday that military-run elections would “fuel greater violence, prolong the conflict and make the return to democracy and stability more difficult”.
More than 2,900 people have been killed in the military’s crackdown on dissent since it seized power and more than 18,000 have been arrested, according to a local monitoring group.
The junta recently completed a series of closed-court proceedings against Suu Kyi, imprisoning its long-time foe for a total of 33 years in a process that rights advocates have called a fraud.
“Our biggest goal for 2023 is freedom and the right to return home,” said Thet Naung, an activist in the northern Sagaing district, where the military and anti-coup militants have frequently clashed.
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