Emergency lifted in Myanmar after 4.5 years
A police man stands near barricades at a blocked road during the 78th anniversary of Martyrs’ Day to mark the assassination of the country’s independence heroes, including Gen. Aung San, the late father of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi, in Yangon, Myanmar, July 19, 2025
Myanmar’s Government on Thursday lifted a state of emergency it had maintained for four and a half years — a step required to hold a general election it plans for December, amid the ongoing civil war.
State-run television reported that the military government has “successfully resolved the matters it had when the state of emergency was announced on Feb. 1, 2021,” citing the junta chief, who spoke at a meeting of the National Defense and Security Council — Myanmar’s top decision-making body, which includes the junta chief.
The NDSC announced it has formed a government commission led by junta chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who has been serving as acting president, to oversee the election, according to the TV report, which gave no details on the polling date. He will remain acting president until a civilian government is established after the election.
Since the Feb. 1, 2021 coup that ousted the elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the junta had extended the state of emergency seven times amid prolonged conflict with opposition forces made up of pro-democracy citizens who have taken up arms, along with ethnic minority militias.
Thursday’s announcement comes as the military mounts counteroffensives to retake towns held by opposition forces. The military is believed to fully control only about half of the country, including the capital, Naypyitaw and its surrounding areas.
According to Thursday’s TV report, the junta chief told a meeting of the security council that the state of emergency was lifted to hold a general election, which is “essential for the state to continue on the path of multiparty democracy.”
The military is effectively excluding the party of Aung San Suu Kyi, who remains in detention, from the election. Her party, the National League for Democracy, won a landslide victory in the 2020 general election, but the junta claimed the vote was rigged and used that as justification for the coup. The NLD was dissolved by a junta-appointed electoral commission in 2023.
Last month, the junta appointed an election commission and said voting would take place in 267 of the country’s 330 townships, apparently excluding the remaining 63 where it is battling opposition forces. Observers say voting in many more constituencies could ultimately be cancelled due to security concerns.
The junta on Tuesday enacted a law allowing authorities to punish those who oppose the election, including speaking against it, protesting or attacking polling stations, with penalties ranging from a minimum of three years in prison to the death penalty if their actions result in fatalities.
Opposition forces, including the self-declared pro-democracy National Unity Government formed by members of Suu Kyi’s party, have denounced the planned election as a sham and a means for the military to maintain its grip on power.
Since the coup, more than 7,000 people have been killed and over 22,200 remain in military detention, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners, an activist group based in neighbouring Thailand.
