The junta plans this year to hold an election, which critics have derided as a sham to keep the generals in power through proxies.
“There are still more tasks to be done to hold the general election successfully. Especially for a free and fair election, stability and peace is still needed,” state-run MRTV said on its Telegram channel in announcing the extension of emergency rule.
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Fighting has displaced an estimated three million people, with widespread food insecurity and a third of the population in need of humanitarian assistance, according to the United Nations, whose special envoy has urged all sides to seek dialogue and move past their “zero-sum mentality”.
Despite the fighting, an economy in tatters and dozens of political parties banned or refusing to take part, the junta is determined to hold the election. Opponents of the military government plan to disrupt the ballot and have urged other countries not to recognise the outcome, saying it will be held against the will of the people.
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