Conflicts & War

Thousands in Myanmar resume protests in major cities

Yangon, Myanmar, Feb 24 (efe-epa).- Thousands took Wednesday to Myanmar’s streets in a new day of protest against the recent military coup and the police violence that has cost three deaths, including that of a minor.

In Yangon, the country’s biggest city, the most attended demonstration was that of minority ethnic groups, who, in addition to demanding the end of the military regime and the release of political prisoners, are calling for a federal republic and the end of the current constitution, approved in 2008.

Some groups, especially the Rohingya, already suffered severe discrimination during the democratic system in place for the past 10 years.

Another of the hot spots of the protests in the city were some embassies, especially that of Indonesia, in front of which for the second day in a row hundreds of people demonstrated to ask that the new military junta not be recognized as a legitimate government.

In Mandalay, the second-largest city, students, monks and teachers held a sit-in, while at a different location, relatives of 16-year-old Wai Yan Tun, killed by police during a Saturday protest, held a funeral in her honor, according to local outlet Myanmar Now.

The military junta, which carried out the Feb. 1 coup, told protesters Monday that “the path of confrontation” will lead to the loss of life.

The army justified the seizure of power on alleged electoral fraud in November’s elections, in which international observers did not detect anomalies and the National League for Democracy, led by deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, won a landslide majority.

Despite holding elections and the process started 10 years ago in Myanmar toward a “disciplined democracy,” as described by the army – which ruled the country from 1962 to 2011 – the military still maintained broad control over the country’s politics and economy. EFE

bir-esj/lds

Related Articles

Back to top button