Myanmar junta plans October national census
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Critics say the census will be used to step up monitoring of opponents of its coup.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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YANGON – A top Myanmar general has called for a national census to take place in October, state media reported on May 14, even as swathes of the country remain outside the junta’s control.
The military has justified its 2021 coup with unsubstantiated claims of widespread fraud in 2020 elections won resoundingly by civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy
Military officials have said a national census must be completed before fresh elections, which junta-backed politicians have hinted could come in 2025.
Junta No.2 Soe Win made the comments during a visit to commercial hub Yangon on May 13, the Global New Light of Myanmar reported.
He “stressed that preparations must be made for enumerating the population and household census across the nation from Oct 1 to Oct 15”, the newspaper said.
Officials in Yangon “reported on the progress of... preparations for collection of the census”, it said, without giving further details.
In October 2023, the junta said it was carrying out a pilot census
Critics say the census will be used to step up monitoring of opponents of its coup, including thousands of civil servants, doctors and teachers who have not returned to work in protest.
The South-east Asian country remains deeply divided by conflict, with civilians caught up in near-daily bomb blasts, targeted killings and clashes between the military and opponents of its coup.
The military has acknowledged it does not fully control swathes of the country, and in February activated a long-dormant conscription law
The US has said any elections under the junta would be a “sham”, while analysts say polls would be targeted by the military’s opponents and spark further bloodshed.
Russia, a close ally of the isolated junta, has said it backs the generals’ plan for polls. AFP
