The Military Council is going all -out to take control of at least 50% of territory in preparation for their 2023 ,a military and political observer told the Kantarawaddy Times.
This observer expects that the battle for territorial control will become more intense in this period before the onset of rainy season. In Karenni state, the revolutionary armed forces have said that they will not allow any organization or party to compete in the elections to be held by the Military Council in the various areas under their control
“ We can see from these operation they are trying to control more than half of the country. The Junta’s plan to hold elections is part of political exit strategy to gain some degree of legitimacy. If they can hold elections in more than 50% of the country’s area, then Min Aung Hlaing anticipates that his government formed after the elections will be accepted at the 78th UN General Assembly in 2023,” he said.
On the other hand, fighting between the Military Council troops and armed organizations is fierce across the country, including the Karenni region.
In order to expand the area under the control of the Military Council, operations may be expanded to ground operations in addition to airstrikes.
Khu Nye Reh, Minister of the Ministry of Interior Affairs of the Karenni state government said, “ If the military is replenished, the war will become more intense, because they have improve more security issues for the election and engage in security clearance.”
The Military Council is conducting intensive operations in Karenni state.
An official of the Karenni Nationalities Defense Force (KNDF) explained , “ The Military Council is conducting intensive operations in Loikaw and ,Demoso, the main towns in Karenni state. So we see that their objective is to control these towns, and try to prepare them for the elections. For this reason we hereby appeal to the people living in the respective cities, not to participate in the campaigns related to the elections of the Military Council.”
The Military Council, which overthrew the civilian government that won the election, and seized power after claiming that the 2020 election results were rigged, is preparing to hold a proportional representation (PR) election next August. by using Proportional Representation (PR) instead of the First Past The Post (FPTP) election system that was used in all the previous elections in2010, 2015, and 2020.
In the areas under the control of the Military Council in the Karenni region, the administrative group under the Military Council is going to conduct the household chart and population census until January 31.
Karenni civil society organizations have also criticized these preparations to hold in their view “ meaningless elections.”
Ko Banya, director of the Karenni Human Rights Group (KHRG) said, “this election does not have freedom of speech, no political choice, and does not enjoy public support. Even if the election is held, it will not achieve anything.”
One thing is for sure, this election will be meaningless. This is just a political exit.
They call it legitimacy. It’s just a way to regain some legal power. But what I dare to say is that the current game will not get international support in reality. I believe that the public will not support this.”
Due to the local fighting in Karenni state, nearly 200,000 displaced people are still unable to return home, and since the new year of 2023, fighting has been going on in various parts of the Karenni region every day.
