Myanmar: Political crisis continues to escalate after two years

Crowd of demonstrators seen during an anti-military coup demonstration. Myanmar’s Military detained State Counsellor of Myanmar Aun San Suu Kyi on February 1, 2021 and declared a state of emergency while seizing the power in the country for a year after losing the election against the National League for Democtacy (NLD). Photo: SOPA Images Limited / Alamy Stock Photo

26 April 2023

Since the coup, the anti-regime opposition has frequently bombed and attacked military facilities. Due to the deteriorating security situation, the military declared a six-month state of emergency. In Myanmar, strikes and violence persist. Port operations are anticipated to continue as usual, despite the predicted disruptions to road traffic and businesses over the next few months.

By Katie Zeng Xiaojun, North, South and Central Asia analyst

Two years have passed since the Myanmar armed forces seized control of the government on 1 February 2021 following a general election which Aung San Suu Kyi’s party won by a landslide. Since then, the military crackdown on the National League for Democracy (NLD) has been ferocious. More than 1,200 party members have been arrested and roughly 90 have been killed. Suu Kyi was given a 33-year prison sentence for corruption, election fraud and various other charges.

In January 2023, the military regime enacted a new law on the registration of political parties, setting minimum funding and membership levels and also banning participation by parties or candidates deemed unlawful or linked to organisations declared by the military government to be terrorist groups. The new law gives parties two months to re-register with the Union Election Commission and those parties who do not will automatically be invalidated and dissolved. The NLD rejected the new law and refused to register for the upcoming general election. Eventually, the party was dissolved by the military.

The military ruler, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, stated that the election would be held once the state of emergency is lifted. However, citing the worsening security situation, the military extended the state of emergency for another six months starting from 1 February 2023. As a result, no election date has been set.

Since the coup, the anti-regime movement has conducted regular bombings and attacks on the military. As an example of a response, the military regime recently conducted an air strike on a village in the Sagaing region, where people were attending an anti-regime gathering, killing up to 100 people, including civilians.

The attack drew global condemnation. In response, several Western nations, including the US, the United Kingdom and countries in the European Union announced further sanctions against Myanmar, targeting the supply of jet fuel to Myanmar’s military.

The situation in Myanmar remains volatile, with sporadic strikes and violence. Disruptions to road traffic and businesses in the country are expected in the coming months. Nevertheless, the ports are highly likely to be operating at the status quo as vessels are observed to be arriving and discharging without significant delay.

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