Anti-coup demonstrators pushed on with protests Sunday as Myanmar neared its seventh week under military rule, as a group of MPs in hiding urge them to move with “invincibility” to overcome the nation’s “darkest moment”.
The country has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi from power in a February 1 putsch, triggering a mass uprising that has seen hundreds of thousands protest daily for a return to democracy.
The junta has repeatedly justified its power grab by alleging widespread electoral fraud in November’s elections, which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party had swept in a landslide.
In response, a group of elected MPs, many of whom are in hiding, had formed a shadow “parliament” called the Committee for Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) — the Burmese word for the country’s governing bloc — to denounce the military regime.
The junta’s security forces have staged near-daily crackdowns against demonstrators calling for a return to democracy, deploying tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds to quell anti-coup protests which have seen more than 70 killed.
