Yangon, Myanmar
Thousands of protestors converged on the streets of Myanmar on Wednesday to openly defy the Myanmar military’s claim that they were being backed by the public and there was support for their overthrow of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Opponents of the February 1 military coup are deeply sceptical of junta assurances, given at a news conference on Tuesday, that there would be a fair election and it would hand over power, even as police filed an additional charge against Suu Kyi.
The Nobel Peace laureate, detained since the coup, now faces a charge of violating a Natural Disaster Management Law as well as charges of illegally importing six walkie talkie radios. Her next hearing is set for March 1.
“We’re showing here that we’re not in that 40 million they announced,” Sithu Maung, an elected member of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) told a cheering sea of people at the Sule Pagoda, a central protest site in the main city of Yangon.
Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, spokesman for the ruling council, told the Tuesday news conference that 40 million of the 53 million population supported the military’s action.
The army alleges there was fraud in a November 8 election that was swept by Suu Kyi’s party as widely expected, and its seizure of power was in line with the constitution and it remained committed to democracy.
A protester who gave her name as Khin was scornful. “They said there was vote fraud but look at the people here,” said Khin.
The coup that cut short the Southeast Asian country’s unsteady transition towards democracy has prompted daily demonstrations since February 6.
The takeover has also drawn strong Western criticism, with renewed anger from Washington and London over the additional charge for Suu Kyi. Although China has taken a softer line, its ambassador in Myanmar on Tuesday dismissed accusations it supported the coup.
Despite that, protesters also gathered outside the Chinese embassy. Tens of thousands took to the streets of the city of Mandalay where some people also blocked its main rail link.
There were no reports of any clashes with security forces. UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews said earlier he feared the possibility of violence against the protesters and made an urgent call on any country with influence over the generals, and businesses, to press them to avoid it.
In Yangon and elsewhere, motorists responded to a “broken-down car campaign” spreading on social media, stopping their supposedly stalled cars, with bonnets raised, on streets and bridges to block them to police and military trucks.
Myanmar’s Assistance Association for Political Prisoners group said more than 450 arrests had been made since the coup, many of them in night-time raids. Those arrested include much of the NLD’s senior leadership.
The suspension of the internet at night has added to a sense of fear. Zaw Min Tun told the news conference, the junta’s first since the coup, that the military was giving a guarantee that an election would be held and power handed to the winner. He gave no time frame, but said the army would not be in power for long.
The last stretch of army rule lasted nearly half a century before democratic reforms began in 2011.—AFP
