Military not ready to step aside in Burma

THE military will retain its key role in Burma’s fledgling democracy, the armed forces chief has said at an annual parade attended for the first time by democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing spoke yesterday after martial law was declared in four towns last week to quell anti-Muslim riots that killed 40 people.

The unrest between Buddhists and Muslims is spreading, posing the biggest challenge yet to a reformist government that took office in 2011 after nearly half a century of military rule.

Min Aung Hlaing said the military would continue to play a “leading political role” in line with the constitution, drafted by the former junta and which reserves a quarter of parliamentary seats for officers.

Armed Forces Day marks the uprising against Japanese occupation in 1945. For the first time in 20 years, the parade featured military hardware, including tanks, personnel carriers, helicopters and fighter jets