Myanmar junta chief calls for unity, says military holding power 'temporarily'

Myanmar's junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who ousted the elected government in a coup on February 1, 2021, presides over an army parade on Armed Forces Day in Naypyitaw, Myanmar, March 27, 2021.NAPYITAW — Myanmar's ruling general said on March 27 that the junta was holding power only temporarily with the aim of strengthening democracy. He called for unity among the people and military to fight armed groups seeking to derail plans to hold an election.

"The military, police force and people's militia are working to restore peace and stability," he told hundreds of soldiers in the capital Naypyitaw. "We need to have unity between the military and the people." Myanmar is locked in a civil war between the military on one side and, on the other, a loose alliance of ethnic minority rebels and an armed resistance movement spawned out of the junta's bloody crackdown on anti-coup protests.

He reiterated that the military had seized power because a 2020 election was marred by fraud, with nearly 30 per cent of ballots invalid. The party of Aung San Suu Kyi, which won that vote in a landslide, has denied that accusation. Suu Kyi is currently in prison, sentenced to 27 years for various alleged offences.

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