Myanmar Spring Chronicle – October 04 Scenes
Moe Ma Ka, October 05 2022
Gaining more controlled areas, Organizing grassroots, Changing Party Leadership
In the news, defensive battles in Chin State, Sagaing, Northern Magway and Kachin State continued. The military council has also blocked and cut off the routes to people from areas under their control.
After the CDF-Matupi attacked a military council checkpoint near Matupi in Chin State on September 19, the military blocked entry and exit to Matupi since the next day. The entry and exit to Matupi were closed until October 4, so some villagers who came from the village to the city were trapped, and we read in the news that no one was allowed to enter Matupi for any reason.
While NUG and allies struggling to gain a foothold of controlled areas, we can see in the news that the rural and township level People Administration and the People Defense Force (PDF) have been established. In a news report, it was said that the People’s Administration of Tonzang Township in Chin State has managed to dominate more than 50 villages. On October 4, CDF Tonzang informed about the political situation in Tonzang Township interim People’s Administration. They did not rule over separate and unconnected districts, but they have been able to dominate more than half of the territory of the contiguous township, CDF Tonzang said. The military council is still making inroads in those areas.
Those fleeing the war tried to escape to the cities, but they were not allowed to take refuge in the areas controlled by the military council. The military council does not give help to refugees and does not accept them. The Shan Herald Agency for News reported that almost 300 new war refugees fled from Kone Kayah Village and Hsinli Village, Namthu Township, to Pubba Yone Monastery due to the battles between the coup military council and joint forces of Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and PDF.
However, a new township administrator who has moved to Namthu will expell all the war refugees back to their homes on October 15, a man who helped war refugees told the Shan Herald.
In a news report, at the 70th meeting of the NUG, Acting President Duwa Lashi La urged to engage with the People Defense Forces that are actually fighting the war of resistance on the ground in every possible way and to provide the necessary support as much as possible in a timely manner. He also said that all the ministers should make a concerted effort to set a political timing so that the PDFs on the ground do not have misunderstandings with each other.
As there are already widespread of the People Defense Forces (PDFs) and People Administrations, Local People Defense Forces (LPDFs) and “PDF Battalions” of NUG-ERO in various regions on the ground, I hear frequently for them to cooperate effectively and not to lose connection with those on the ground. It is an undeniable fact that in the areas that have been prepared to have control over by resistance forces, the military council, Thwe Thout Group, Pyuu Saw Htee, Chief Administrators, 10-houses heads, 100-houses heads, members of USDP party and Ma Ba Tha, are targeted and being put under pressure to leave, and also there is back and forth retaliation.
Another piece of news is that the USDP Conference to elect a new leader has started today, on October 4. Those who attended the meeting said that at today’s meeting, 4 points about why current party chairman U Than Htay had retired from party duties were expressed, the BBC reported.
Among those factors, he said about the failure to win the 2020 election, party members being killed, failure to protect some party members from leaving their homes and fleeing and the need to rest after 7 years of surgery for a backache problem prescribed by his doctor. He is reported to have said that there is no scandal related to financial and corruption related to the party.
As written in the chronicle the previous day, it is not known for sure whether Min Aung Hlaing, who wants to be president, is hoping that the USDP party will be used as the exit point for power transfer by the military council. Similarly, the military council has taken steps to control the other political parties which remain on the ground in their grips and the Myanmar military is containing ethnic armed groups that have signed a National Ceasefire Agreement (NCA), not to join with NUG and its allies. As it is no longer effective to trick and manipulate ordinary civilians with extreme religious ideology using MaBaTha monks (monks from the Patriotic Association of Myanmar/Burma PAM or PAB), the cornered military council is intensifying the flame of war on one hand and on the other hand, it is like playing around the people and the international community in various ways with staged election and so on.