Myanmar election commission appointed by junta dissolved Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) on Tuesday after it refused to comply with a tough new party registration law imposed by Myanmar’s military, reported The Guardian, citing the junta-controlled media.
The military, which seized power in a coup in February 2021 had set Tuesday as a deadline for political parties to re-register itself under the regime of tough new military-drafted electoral law. The NLD had declined to register for the general election that it called a sham.
Myanmar is expected to go into elections soon this year after junta extended the state of emergency last month.
Most of the country is engulfed in civil war as the people of the country strongly oppose the military rule and seek to overthrow the generals.
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Fourty political parties, including the National League for Democracy have been dissolved by the military-appointed election commission after they missed the deadline for registration, said the junta-controlled Myawaddy TV, reported The Guardian.
Aung San Suu Kyi’s NLD had won a landslide victory in 2020 but the military refused to accept the results and seized power months later as it alleged electoral fraud that has been rejected by independent observers. Suu Kyi was detained and a state of emergency imposed in the country.
The 2021 military coup has plunged Myanmar into chaos, with conflict spreading to areas of the country that were once peaceful.
According to The Guardian, Education and health services have collapsed, and an estimated 17.6 million people are now in need of humanitarian assistance – up from 1 million before the coup.
More than 17,000 political prisoners remain in detention, including Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been sentenced to a total of 33 years in prison, the media outlet said further in its report.