Successful ‘silent strike’ marks second anniversary of military coup

First modification: 02/01/2023 – 11:02

By Ramón Vidales, RFI correspondent in Myanmar

In commemoration of the two years of the coup in Burma, the junta called a demonstration in front of the Rangoon city hall. A small group of protesters responded to the call, but the streets and avenues of the old Burmese capital remained largely empty. The cause is the so-called “silence strike”, called by the Government of National Unity and the different groups that make up the Civil Disobedience Movement. At 12 noon today it could already be said that the call was a success.

After two years of military rule, the indicators show a serious economic, social and humanitarian situation that is tending to deteriorate. Indeed, added to the anti-covid measures, the coup notoriously aggravated the situation, putting 40% of the population below the poverty line.

With a 60% increase in the price of the family basket, the food crisis tends to worsen. Already 17 million people have different degrees of malnutrition, compared to the 900,000 registered in 2020. Around 1.2 million people have been displaced, the majority in the Sagain region, where the military has implemented a fierce scorched earth policy. To stem the flow of people leaving the country, the junta suspended the issuance of passports. All this, without the military having managed to gain control of the country.

A very hypothetical election

In political terms, the risk of an escalation of violence is imminent. As required by the norm on which the legal rhetoric of the coup is founded, the junta should lift the state of emergency. However, everything seems to indicate that it will be renewed despite the legitimacy problems it entails. Well, for the Junta, legalistic rhetoric is extremely important in diplomatic and communication terms.

Added to this is the desire to call general elections for the middle of this year. The previous week the junta issued a law requiring all parties to re-register, under threat of dissolution, within 60 days with the military authorities.

This rule imposes a duty on parties to recruit at least 100,000 members within 90 days of registration and to open offices in at least 150 of Burmese’s 330 municipalities. They must also deposit 100 million kyat (about $50,000) in a state bank. Regional or ethnic parties must recruit 10,000 members, have offices in at least five municipalities, and deposit 10 million kyat. At the same time, they are prohibited from running in the national elections.

As several local political leaders have stated, these measures are a strong dissuasive for all the parties that have suffered repression, including the majority party of Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. Ultimately, they would be designed to guarantee the victory of a single party, namely that of the military. Several representatives of regional parties have affirmed that these elections are a simulation that will aggravate the state of violence.