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YANGON: The interim leader of Myanmar’s parallel civilian government, appointed by lawmakers overthrown in the wake of a February 1 military coup, addressed the public for the first time on Saturday (March 13) from hiding and vowed to carry out a “revolution” to overthrow the junta.
Mahn Win Khaing Than, who is on the run along with most of the top officials of the ruling National League for Democracy Party, addressed the public via Facebook, saying: “This is the nation’s darkest time and the time when that dawn is near.. “
At least 12 protesters were killed on Saturday when Myanmar security forces again confronted protests against last month’s military takeover with lethal force, killing at least four people by firing live ammunition at protesters.
READ: 4 dead as Myanmar forces continue to crack down on protesters
Mahn Win Khaing Than was appointed last week as interim vice president by representatives of Myanmar’s ousted lawmakers, the Committee to Represent Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), which is pushing for recognition as the legitimate government.
He has announced his intention to create a federal democracy and the leaders have met with representatives of Myanmar’s largest ethnic armed organizations, which already control vast swaths of territory throughout the country. Some have pledged their support.
“To form a federal democracy, which all the ethnic brothers, who have been suffering various kinds of oppressions from the dictatorship for decades, really wanted, this revolution is the opportunity that we can join our efforts,” said Mahn Win Khaing Than.
The board, which could not be reached for comment Saturday, outlawed CRPH and said anyone involved with it could be charged with treason, which carries the death penalty.
The CRPH has declared the board a “terrorist organization.”
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Mahn Win Khaing Than said that the CRPH “will try to legislate the laws required for people to have the right to defend themselves” and that the public administration will be run by “an interim popular administration team.”
A civil disobedience movement that began with government employees, such as doctors and teachers, has expanded into a general strike that has paralyzed many sectors of the economy and has taken much of the government’s operation from the hands of the public. military.
