Myanmar’s regime leader Min Aung Hlaing gave a speech on Friday, to mark his first 100 days since being inaugurated as president by a pro-military parliament, outlining a five-year road map for his administration, which faces ongoing conflict and international criticism.
Min Aung Hlaing, the former army chief who had originally seized power in 2021 from a civilian government, was inaugurated on April 10 following an election that critics said was designed to entrench the military’s grip on power.
Addressing more than 900 lawmakers, officials and military representatives in the parliament in the capital Naypyidaw, he said his pro-military administration had laid “important foundations” since taking office by pursuing two priorities — restoring peace and stability and promoting national development.
Min Aung Hlaing said he would spend two years accelerating efforts to build a modern and developed nation based on democracy and a federal system, followed by another three years carrying out build-up at full speed.
He also said special elections would be held in 2027 in constituencies across 102 townships that were unable to vote during the three-phase election held late last year because of armed conflict.
He said the government would continue implementing the military’s conscription law while strengthening the armed forces and police as they fight pro-democracy activists and ethnic armed groups throughout much of the country.
He noted that his administration had invited armed groups fighting the military to lay down their weapons and had held talks with 13 of them.
At the same time, Min Aung Hlaing criticized the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Five Point Consensus, the regional bloc’s peace plan for Myanmar, agreed to by Min Aung Hlaing in April 2021 but not implemented upon his return to Naypyidaw.
He said that the peace plan had been issued without the agreement of all ASEAN member states and that the regional bloc had discriminated against Myanmar.
It stipulates that Myanmar bring an immediate end to the violence, and start dialogue among contending parties to be brokered through an ASEAN special envoy.
He also outlined energy and major infrastructure development plans, saying his administration would proceed with 10 power generation projects, including the controversial Myitsone hydropower dam project in Kachin State, while continuing efforts to build a nuclear power plant.
The hydropower project was suspended more than a decade ago after protests over its possible impact on the environment.
Myanmar authorities were also working to combat money laundering, drug trafficking and online scam centres, he said, adding that more than 72,000 foreigners linked to scam operations had been repatriated to 58 countries.
Min Aung Hlaing acknowledged that the departure of large numbers of young Myanmar people was hurting economic development, but did not acknowledge the role of the military’s conscription law, which has been widely cited as one of the key factors behind the outflow of young people since it was enforced on Feb. 10, 2024.
Nan Lin, a spokesperson of the General Strike Coordination Body (GSCB), a leading nonviolent pro-democracy group in Myanmar, said the speech showed the military’s intention to maintain its grip on power, adding that the country would face worsening hardship under what he described as the junta’s failed policies.
“No meaningful change can be expected from the junta” Nan Lin said. “They will use the conscription law to control young people through fear, and the situation could worsen as they continue to sacrifice young people in order to hold on to power.”
AP
