Deposed Myanmar officials and pro-democracy protesters form national unity government amid military coup

A committee composed of ex-lawmakers, ethnic groups and anti-coup activists has unveiled a new national unity government in Myanmar, presenting a democratic alternative to the February military coup.

The Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) group announced its new administration in a video statement read out on Myanmar’s Public Voice Television, with the positions of state counsellor and president reserved for Aung San Suu Kyi and Win Myint, respectively, restoring the titles they had before being removed by the military.

The interim cabinet unveiled by the group will work to restore democratic rule in Myanmar through a roadmap outlined in a 20-page Federal Democracy Charter, using economic, political and social means to dislodge the military's control. While the new unity administration has not commented beyond announcing its formation, the CRPH’s spokesperson, Yee Mon, declared on March 30 that the group will be a “revolutionary government.”

As everyone knows, this cabinet will be a government formed under a state of war – an anti-dictatorship war.

Once democracy has been restored in the country, the national unity government has pledged to implement a new constitution, approved through a country-wide referendum, that will replace the military-drafted document currently in place.

The announcement comes a day after the military detained one of Myanmar's most high-profile anti-coup protesters, Wai Moe Naing, during a rally in the Sagaing region.

Since the military took control of Myanmar on February 1, there have been daily clashes between protesters and security forces, with more than 700 civilian fatalities and numerous reports of injuries, as the junta seeks to secure control over the country. 

The military government has said it will return the country to democratically elected leaders after the election is held in two years.

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