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The junta chief of Myanmar has reiterated a call to insurgents who are attempting to stop military rule in a bid to stop it. He added that his government is strengthening democracy and that his most recent offer of talks is in response to his forces ‘ string of setbacks.
At a Christmas breakfast on Sunday in Yangon, top general Min Aung Hlaing made his most recent appeal. He overthrew an elected civil government in a 2021 revolution and tried to halt opposition to the invasion.
” The state is implementing the blueprint, national and social visions to enhance the multi-party political structure that the people wish and to return to the right political path”, the state-run , Global New Light of Myanmar , newspaper quoted Min Aung Hlaing as saying.
The government is” committed to solving problems within the society through peaceful coexistence, especially through dialogue to achieve success,” he said, adding that troubles had to be resolved” through social methods but never handled in armed struggle.”
The surrounding country of China has been pressing allies to speak and has pledged to support a general election scheduled for the following month.
Min Aung Hlaing did not refer to his army’s failures in his Sunday target.
The government has been losing ground in various areas despite his calling for talks and Chinese pressure on the military criticism.
On Friday, a regional army headquarters , fell , to the Arakan Army, or AA, ethnic minority insurgent group in Rakhine state, after months of fighting.
The AA, which is supported by the ethnic Rakhine Buddhist population, currently controls about 80 % of the state, with the military divided into smaller subdivisions, such as the Kyaukphyu economic zone on the coast, where China wants to construct a port and has oil and gas pipelines.
In Chin state in the northwest, insurgents claimed to have made more advances against the military in recent days and that they now occupy 85 % of the state, which is largely Christian.
Respect Rohingya rights
Insurgent groups and a parallel civilian government in exile, the National Unity Government, who claim they have no faith in the words of a military that has for decades stifled all dissent and locked up or killed its enemies, have turned down Min Aung Hlaing’s demands for talks.
One of the numerous pro-democracy guerrilla organizations known as People’s Defense Forces, or PDFs, said an official from one of the “one thing is that the revolutionary forces do not trust the military council.
The junta is losing militarily, which makes it impossible for us to talk to them right now, according to an official in the central Monywa district who obtained a PDF.
Members of Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim minority, many of whom are based in the state’s northern regions along the border with Bangladesh, pleaded with the AA to respect their rights as the AA continued to advance in the state.
The Rohingya groups said in a joint statement that” we urge the Arakan Army and its political wing… to uphold and respect the rights of the Rohingya and all ethnic and religious minorities.”
” Undoubtedly, the Burmese military is our common enemy,” the groups said, while accusing the AA of human rights violations against Rohingya, including widespread arson and killings.
Rights investigators claim that the AA has committed serious violations, especially since the junta launched a campaign this year to recruit Rohingya men into militias to fight the AA, despite the AA’s claims.
The Rohingya organizations, many based abroad, said they strongly rejected the groups that cooperated with the military and called on the AA to recognize the Rohingya as” an integral part of the ( the state’s ) diverse communities.”
Additionally, the organizations demanded that Bangladesh’s first aid corridor be built to stop famine.
Up to 2 million people in Rakhine state are facing” the dire prospect of famine” as a result of the 2021 coup’s economic collapse and a worsening humanitarian crisis.
