Pan Pan
Kyaw Zaw, spokesperson of the President's Office of the National Unity Government (NUG), denounced the Myanmar Military Council's superficial act of reducing sentences of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint as a pretense, accusing them of employing hostage diplomacy, while affirming that the NUG's decisions remain unchanged. He also called for their immediate unconditional release.
On 1 August, Aung San Suu Kyi, the former civilian leader of Myanmar, was granted pardons for five out of the 19 offenses she was convicted of, resulting in a total reduction of six years from her original 33-year jail term.
The junta has also granted a pardon to former President Win Myint for some of the charges he was convicted of, leading to a reduction of four years from his initial 12-year jail term.
"Declaring that State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint have their sentences reduced is also the junta using hostage diplomacy. They are using it as a political card to be used as hostages when they want," Kyaw Zaw told Mizzima. "Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and U Win Myint should be released immediately without any conditions. The junta may think that people will be bewildered because of such a reduced sentence. But the public has absolutely nothing to be confused about."
Kyaw Zaw said, "Our Spring Revolution will not die down because of this move. The revolution is only going to increase in speed. As the NUG Prime Minister [Mahn Win Khaing Than] said the other day, the NUG has already made a strong decision. We are determined to implement the wishes of the people. We have already made a decision to establish a new Union of Myanmar."
NUG Prime Minister Mahn Win Khaing Than, speaking at the 26th cabinet meeting of the NUG on 1 August emphasized, "Regarding the junta, there is no evident foreign encouragement and support, no efficient administration, and even their soldiers, who are far from achieving victory on the military front, are fleeing daily. Additionally, on the economic front, the Military Council worsens the country's situation by printing new currency notes. The junta is attempting to disrupt the revolution by exploiting the state counselor's name in their customary manner."
“But what the terrorist Military Council needs to know is this revolution is a one in which all the revolutionary forces have a common goal to permanently root out the military dictators who have caused trouble to the whole country in various ways, so they need to know very well that no matter what methods they use to divide the revolutionary groups and weaken the revolution, all of us will continue to march with strong determination."
Kyaw Zaw said that the extension of the Military Council’s state of emergency for six months indicates the Military Council’s situation is getting worse
"The Military Council's extension of the state of emergency for another six months is another violation of their 2008 Constitution. This is an admission that their attempt to seize power has failed. Their leader Min Aung Hlaing announced that they would hold elections in August 2023. But, they had to admit that they could not do it now. By extending the state of emergency, they admitted that they could not govern the country. They had to declare a state of emergency because their situation is getting worse."
In the past, the Military Council had announced that elections would be held in August of this year. However, instead of fulfilling their promise, they chose to extend the state of emergency for another six months.
The Myanmar people remain skeptical about the legitimacy of the Military Council's elections and are not appreciative of the reduced sentences given to the detained State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and the President Win Myint judging from the comments being made. Instead, they strongly demand the immediate and unconditional release of them.
