Myanmar political leaders form National Unity Government to rival military rule as junta Chief plans first foreign visit since coup to attend ASEAN summit in Indonesia

Myanmar’s junta chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who ousted the elected government in a coup on February 1, will attend an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Indonesia on April 24, says Thailand. This will be the first foreign visit of the military ruler since the junta seized power on 01 February toppling a civilian government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi which had held power for five years and was starting its second term after a landslide election victory in November.

The news about visit comes immediately after Myanmar’s Committee for Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), which represents the ousted civilian government, announced the formal launch of a new “National Unity Government” (NUG).  The Unity Government launched on Friday comprises of ousted members of parliament and leaders of anti-coup protests and ethnic minorities, saying their aim was to end military rule and restore democracy. The turmoil following coup has been escalating across the country with peaceful protests by people to restore democracy, defying orders of the junta, which saw brutal crackdown by the security forces. Mass killings have been reported on a number of occasions as the armed forces opened fire on protesting civilians with casualties crossing 700.

As Myanmar celeberates Saturday as the first day of the traditional New Year and the last day of a five-day holiday usually celebrated with visits to Buddhist temples and rowdy water throwing and partying in the streets, the NUG’s vice president, Duwa Lashi La, an ethnic Kachin lawyer, said in a New Year message that the road to replacing military rule with democracy would be rough.”We pledge to continue working with all ethnic peoples to overthrow the military dictatorship and establish a new federal democracy,” he said. Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of several towns including Mogok with banners supporting the NUG.

The junta released 23,184 prisoners from jails across the country under a New Year amnesty, the Prisons Department said. However most of the released detainees are from those who were arrested prior to the 01 February coup.

Several of the 10 ASEAN leaders, among them Min Aung Hlaing, confirmed they would attend the meeting in Jakarta, Thai foreign ministry spokesman Tanee Sangrat said. There has been no official comment from any junta spokesperson till now.