Myanmar junta signals shift ahead of decision on emergency rule

FILE PHOTO: A voter casts ballot at a polling station on Nov. 8, 2020, in Yangon, Myanmar. Under Myanmar’s 2008 Constitution, emergency rules must be lifted before elections can be held, which the junta had pledged to do by December. - AP

YANGON: Myanmar’s military leader said the country was entering a "second chapter,” signaling a potential shift ahead of a decision Thursday (Aug 1) on lifting the country’s state of emergency - a necessary step for holding elections more than four years after a coup.

The decision, by the junta’s National Defence and Security Council, comes as civil war continues to engulf the South-East Asian nation. Under Myanmar’s 2008 Constitution, emergency rules must be lifted before elections can be held, which the junta had pledged to do by December.