UPDATE - Myanmar army chief stresses military role in politics

UPDATES TO ADD COMMENTS RELATING TO RAKHINE

By Kyaw Ye Lynn

YANGON, Myanmar (AA) - Myanmar’s army chief has insisted that the military will remain a political force despite the country now being ruled by its first elected civilian government in almost half a decade.

More than 10,000 troops marched through the political capital Nay Pyi Taw on Monday as Myanmar celebrates its 72nd Armed Forces Day to mark the resistance movement led by independence hero General Aung San -- father of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi -- in 1945.

Army chief Sen. Gen. Min Aung Hlaing stressed in a speech that the Tatmadaw -- as the military is known -- must maintain a leading role in national politics given its place in the history and critical situations of the country.

“We had learned that putting too much emphasis on party politics doesn’t lead to any stability of the country, but taking priority over national politics can only bring stability,” he said.

Though the government led by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party took power in March last year following its landslide election victory, the junta-drafted constitution allocates the military a quarter of seats in parliaments -- and therefore veto power -- and control of three key Cabinet ministries.

From 1962 to 2011, Myanmar was ruled by oppressive juntas in which generals suppressed almost all dissent and stood accused of gross human rights abuses, prompting international condemnation and sanctions.

The years of dictatorship, however, were terminated by a 2010 general election widely regarded as rigged by the military.

Power was transferred in 2011 to a new quasi-civilian government led by the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party and reformist President Thein Sein, a retired general -- a process that lifted Myanmar out of global isolation, helped end most sanctions and spurred rapid economic growth.

On Monday, Min Aung Hlaing also called for awareness of “foreign interference” in conflicts in Myanmar, touching on the situation in western Rakhine State -- where recent military operations launched after fatal attacks on police outposts have been widely criticized by rights groups.

“It is clear that there are foreign interferences in the refugee issue following the violent attacks by some Bengalis in 2016 and consequent military operations in the area,” he said, using a term that suggests around 1.2 million Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine are illegal immigrants from neighboring Bangladesh.

“Regarding racial issues, we had made clear that Bengalis are not a Myanmar ethnic,” he added.

Myanmar has come under heavy international criticism for its crackdown on Rohingya Muslims following the October attacks on police in Rakhine’s northern Maungdaw area.

Last week, the United Nations Human Rights Council decided to send an international fact-finding mission to Myanmar to investigate alleged human rights violations, against the Rohingya in particular.

“International response to our internal issues could be a sovereignty threat,” Min Aung Hlaing said Monday.

Rohingya in impoverished Rakhine have been effectively denied citizenship by a nationality law enacted in 1982 by Ne Win, a military strongman who staged a coup and whose 1962-1988 leadership saw the adoption of xenophobic policies.

Myanmar has also seen intense fighting between government troops and ethnic rebels in northern Kachin State and northeastern Shan State bordering China.