Nay Pyi Taw, January (25)
As the country’s state of emergency expires next week, the military council must hold a Defense and Security Council meeting and hand over power.
On February 1, 2021, the military detained the country’s elected leaders, held a meeting of the Defense and Security Council under Article 417 of the 2008 Constitution, declared a state of
emergency, and seized power for a year.
After that, according to Article 425 of the 2008 Constitution, the state of emergency was
extended twice for six months, and this term will expire on January 31.
Therefore, at the meeting of the Defense and Security Council to be held on February 1, the
military council must report the situation and accept the council’s decision.
Myanmar political analysts and legal experts point out that the Defense and Security Council, which will be held on February 1, depends on the decision of military leader Min Aung Hlaing.
Karen National Union (KNU) spokesperson Pado Saw Taw Nee told Than Lwin Times that since the military group will continue to seize power via the Defense and Security Council Meeting, the revolutionary forces will use military and political means to bring down the military group, and since the coup, the 2008 constitution no longer exists.
According to Article 425, “If the Commander-in-Chief of the Defense Services is unable to complete the duties assigned to him, if he submits to extending the state of emergency, it can be extended twice, up to six months at a time.”
Currently, in the ethnic regions of Kachin, Karenni, Chin and Karen States, and Sagaing and Magway regions of Upper Myanmar, joint forces of ethnic resistance organizations (EROs), including the People’s Defense Forces, are waging battles with the military council.
ABSDF declared that it will only fight for the overthrow of the military dictatorship because the military group can maintain its hold on power by embracing the 2008 constitution, said All Burma Students’ Democratic Front (ABSDF) Central Steering Committee’s Comrade Salai Yaw Aung.
Since the military coup on February 1, 2021, political analysts, democracy activists, and ethnic resistance forces have assumed that the 2008 Constitution has become null and void.
Chin National Front (CNF) spokesperson Salai Htet Ni responded that, as a military group, the extension of the state of emergency at the Defense and Security Council and preparations for elections are completely illegal.
Ethnic armed resistance forces such as the Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), the Chin National Front (CNF), the Karenni National Progressive Party (KNPP), the Palaung State Liberation Front (PSLF) and the Karen National Union (KNU) issued a clear statement that they did not accept the military council elections.
News-Than Lwin Times
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