New twist in Myanmar civil war as Junta regime lifts emergency after…, announces elections in…; will this change fate of jailed leader Aung San Suu Kyi?

The 2021 coup, overthrew the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, and sparked the Myanmar civil war.

Myanmar civil war: In a major twist in the Myanmar civil war, the ruling military junta has lifted the state of emergency across the country, four years after removing the Aung San Suu Kyi government from power in a coup. According to media reports, Myanmar’s junta regime also announced that elections will be in the country in six months and formed a commission for the exercise.

Why junta army imposed emergency in Myanmar?

Myanmar Army had imposed a one-year emergency after then acting President Myint Swe handed over power to current Acting President and junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing, who is also the Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services. Later, the junta regime established the State Administration Council, which has since extended the emergency after every six months.

However, in a major decision, the ruling military junta and its leader Min Aung Hlaing have decided not to extend the emergency beyond July 31, 2025, and also announced the constitution of a commission to hold elections in Myanmar in the next six months.

When will elections be held?

As per reports, the 11-member commission headed by General Min Aung Hlaing, the head of the junta regime, is tasked with conducting elections in Myanmar within the next six months, the first in the country since the 2021 coup. During the period, General Hlaing will remain in charge as the country’s president, they said.

Meanwhile, opposition group and critics of the junta regime have announced a complete boycott of the upcoming elections, terming the exercise as a sham and an attempt at legitimizing the Myanmar’s military dictatorship.

Interestingly, the elections have been announced at a time when when rebel groups fighting in the Myanmar civil war have captured large swathes of the country’s territory from the junta army, which currently controls only about one-fifth of the country.

Ahead of the election announcement, the junta regime brought a new law which empowers it to hand the death penalty to any person who opposes or disrupts the forthcoming polls. Under the new law, citizens who organize, incite or participate in protests, or disrupt any type of electoral process, could be sentenced to three to ten years of rigorous imprisonment.

What happens to Aung San Suu Kyi?

The 2021 coup, overthrew the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, and sparked the Myanmar civil war. Following the coup, the junta regime jailed Suu Kyi and many senior leaders of her National League for Democracy party, and handed a 30-year-prison term to the 79-year-old Nobel laureate after convicting her in a multitude of cases.

Experts believe that even after elections, Hlaing will remain the supreme authority in Myanmar as the head of state or the head of the armed forces. Additionally, the elections will be held under the junta army’s supervision and strict laws have been introduced to ensure all dissenting voices are suppressed.

Thus, its believed that there is little hope for Aung San Suu Kyi to return to national political scene or even her release, before or after the elections.