Myanmar junta says it will remain in power for ‘certain time’, hold elections later

Myanmar’s ruling military council will only be in control of the country for a certain period of time and will hold an election and hand power to the winning party, its spokesman said on Thursday.

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Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun also said Myanmar’s military was helping more than 1,000 of its nationals who he said were in trouble in Malaysia by facilitating their return recently. He was referring to a recent mass deportation that human rights groups had sought to block due to concerns about their welfare.

The unrest in Myanmar is not a situation that should be of concern to the international community and the West was making assumptions that were incorrect, a spokesman for the ruling military said on Thursday.

Brigadier Min Tun confirmed that a lobbyist had been hired to address an international misperception and said that security forces were disciplined and had used force only when necessary, although he said beatings may have happened on all sides due to provocations.

He said the country was on a road to authentic democracy and wanted cooperation, in a news conference that was still ongoing after two and a half hours.

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