The Myanmar military junta’s State Administration Council (SAC), that controls the State’s Power by armed forces, announced that they have reorganised the management committee of the SAC as the Caretaker Government on 1 August 2021 with announcement number 152/2021. Regarding this announcement, CRPH/NUG Support Group (Australia), which is formed by 67 organisations and 91 individuals that are actively participating in Myanmar’s affairs across Australia, declares as follows.
1. The statement that the SAC took control of the State’s Power, which they used to say in accordance with the Constitution, is absolutely deceitful. Because:
1.1. It is against the law for Vice-President-1 U Myint Swe to take over as Acting-President and convened a National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) meeting.
1.2. As per Chapter 11 in 2008 Constitution, invoking a NDSC meeting and implementing State of Emergency provisions is the prerogative of the President. U Myint Swe should only convene the NDSC meeting and transferring the State’s legislative, executive, and judicial powers to the Chief of Armed Forces only after gaining the Presidential Power by following the procedures prescribed in Section 73 (E, F and G) on pages 24, 25 & 26 of the 2008 Constitution.
1.3. Hence, Min Aung Hlaing and the SAC are the terrorist organisation that had illegally seized the State’s Power by force against the People’s will. The caretaker government that has been declared by the same terrorist organisation with the same members is no different.
2. Another supporting fact for their conspicuous illegality is the arbitrary arrest and unlawful detention of the President with one-sided accusations.
2.1. As described in Section 71 (A) on page 23 of the 2008 Constitution, in order to accuse the President, only the Pyidaungsu Hluttaw can do so, in accordance with the prescribed procedures set forth in section 71 (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) (g) of this law.
2.2. The arrest of the President by the military is a coup d’état and Min Aung Hlaing was the leader of the Coup. The military and all of its members are criminals according to the law.
3. In a statement issued on February 1 by the Vice-President-1 U Myint Swe, where it declared himself as the ActingPresident - also declared a state of emergency and the transfer of power to the military under Section 417 of the 2008 Constitution, due to the fraudulent actions of the Union Election Commission, was also a false statement. The statement was unequivocally made-up according to the law and it was a blatant lie to the People of Myanmar.
3.1. In accordance with the provisions in Section 399 paragraph (d) of 2008 Constitution (Page 160), compilation of voter lists and the amendments are the sole responsibility of the Union Election Commission.
3.2. If there are any mistakes and the Union Election Commission is responsible, then Section 400 of the 2008 Constitution (page 161), as stated in paragraph (a-5), only the President has the right to accuse the Chairman of the Union Election Commission and relevant officials in accordance with the prescribed procedures. The arrest of the President and members of the government by Ming Aung Hlaing and his army, accusing the voter list of being erroneous, was a coup attempt and went against the 2008 constitution.
3.3. In addition, their allegations deliberately mixed two different issues: voter list fraud and voter fraud. Some lost their right to vote due to inaccuracies in voter registration. By looking at the differences in millions of populations between the number of votes cast in the 2008 constitutional referendum and the populations in the 2014 census, there have been some inaccuracies in the past. Due to the weaknesses of the current recording system, it will continue in the future. Once e-Government is fully implemented, only when citizenship cards become smart cards will the voter list be closer to reality.
3.4. To date, however, Min Aung Hlaing and his followers have not been able to prove any evidence of vote rigging. Dignified and internationally experienced election observers have declared the November 2020 election clean and fair. Therefore, we, the CRPH/NUG Support Group (Australia), would like to reiterate that Min Aung Hlaing and the junta’s the use of brutal force and accusation of the civilian government was illegal. Successive military dictators in Myanmar (Burma) have never believed in democracy. They have been brain-washed and taught through the generations with such ideas. In addition to democracy, they also do not believe in federalism. Furthermore, they do not trust in ethnic groups as well. They only have one belief – that is the country will be good only when they rule, and they are the only saviours of the country. The announcement of the caretaker government is an attempt by a totally illegitimate group to seek legitimacy. We declare that Min Aung Hlaing and the military leaders are a group of criminals who have to stand trials for committing atrocities, Coup D’état, crimes against humanity and their war crimes.