The Committee of Representatives of the Union of Burma’s Parliament (CRPH), which opposes the military government, announced Friday (April 16) the formation of a national unity government with the goal of ending military rule and restoring democracy.
The Committee of Representatives of the Union Parliament of Burma (CRPH) was established by a number of Burmese NLD lawmakers who won the general election last November. The military has declared the committee an illegal organization. In the newly formed national unity government, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint, who are in military custody, will serve as senior minister of state and president, respectively. The government also includes ethnic minority leaders, protesters who oppose the military coup and others.
In a statement, Sasa, minister of international cooperation for the government of national unity, said the most important task of the government of national unity is to end the immense suffering of the Burmese people under the “criminal and ruthless” military junta.
The junta has used terrible violence against our people – including children – in cities and villages large and small across Burma,” Sasa said. They are plundering the wealth of our country and trying to destroy our future and our hopes. But, ladies and gentlemen, we can assure you – they will eventually fail.”
The statement said, “The government of national unity is based on the hopes, dreams, courage and commitment of all the people of Burma. As leaders, we will serve and respect all people as brothers and sisters, regardless of their race, religion, origin or profession.”
The statement added: “All will play a vital role in the great cause of liberating our country from the scourge of the brutal military government, and all will enjoy equal rights as citizens of Burma.”
Protests against the junta have continued since the Burmese military overthrew the democratically elected government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in a coup on Feb. 1, and these protests have been violently suppressed by security forces. As of Thursday, some 726 people had been killed in the violent crackdown by the military, according to the Aid Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP).
The national unity government’s main goal is also to win international support and recognition. “We are the democratically elected leaders of Burma, so if the free and democratic world rejects us, that means they reject democracy,” Sasa told reporters, according to Reuters.
In an interview with UN News on Wednesday, Thomas Andrews, the U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Burma, said the brutality of Burma’s military government has shocked everyone, and that instead of protecting the people, Burma’s military, which is supposed to guarantee the security of the country and its people, has launched attacks on them.
They are more like a criminal group that has illegally abducted the country’s leaders, staged a coup, overthrown the constitution they themselves drafted, and continually brutalized the people,” he said. Burma’s military government is losing support, and the more atrocities they commit, the more illegitimate they become in the eyes of the international community, and they are not gaining any recognition, but quite the opposite.”
Democracies such as the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union have all condemned the actions of the Burmese military government and announced sanctions against the country. EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell recently accused Russia and China of blocking a concerted international response to the military coup in Burma.
Reuters cited media reports that the formation of a national unity government coincided with a “silent strike” in Myanmar, with some people staying at home to mourn the victims and others dressed in black and holding small marches in six towns and cities across the country. Local residents said the streets of Yangon, the main city, were almost deserted.
The report also cited Myanmar Now, which said there were no reports of violence during Friday’s protests, but the previous day in the central town of Kani, soldiers and a “local group” engaged in a gun battle that left six people dead. A gun battle between soldiers and a “local group” in the central town of Kani the day before left six people dead.
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