As of: February 23, 2024, 8:13 a.m
By: Sven Hauberg
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Members of a rebel group in northern Myanmar (archive photo): Insurgents control large parts of the country.
© AFP
Zin Mar Aung knows Myanmar's military dictatorship well: she was a prisoner of the junta for eleven years.
In the interview, the exiled foreign minister says what could happen next in the civil war country.
On February 1, 2021, the military seized power in Myanmar.
Since then, a civil war has been raging in the Southeast Asian country: small and large resistance groups are fighting against the junta in large parts of Myanmar.
According to the United Nations, around 2.6 million people have become displaced as a result, and several thousand have probably died.
The ousted government that emerged from the November 2020 general election has regrouped underground and abroad as Myanmar's "National Unity Government."
Other former government members, including Prime Minister and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, are in custody.
Zin Mar Aung was also once a prisoner of the military dictatorship.
Today, as Foreign Minister of the unity government, she fights for her country's freedom.
Uprisings against the military regime are being reported across Myanmar.
Is the junta on the verge of collapse?
Yes.
The revolutionaries are winning, they are controlling larger and larger areas, I estimate that it is now 40 percent of the country.
20 percent are still contested, the junta only controls the remaining 40 percent.
And even there there are riots and civil disobedience.
The military dictatorship is coming under increasing pressure and its end is near.
A few days ago, the junta announced that it would require men and women aged 18 and over to do military service for up to two years.
This is a reaction to the successes of the revolutionaries and shows how weakened the junta has become.
Many soldiers are defecting to the resistance fighters, which is why the generals urgently need new soldiers.
But we hear from Myanmar that the vast majority of people do not want to fight for the junta.
Because of this, many try to leave the country.
Or they join the resistance.
Zin Mar Aung has been the foreign minister of Myanmar's National Unity Government since 2021.
© Yoshio Tsunoda/Imago
Myanmar has been controlled by the military for decades.
Even after the democratic elections in 2015 and 2020, the generals never completely relinquished power.
Can the junta be finally defeated?
Yes.
We see great dissatisfaction even within the junta because the military dictatorship is not even useful to its own people.
Our sources tell us that there is a lot of debate within the military government.
Above all, pressure is needed from outside the regime, and that is what the resistance fighters are currently exerting - militarily, politically, and through demonstrations against the regime.
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“China wants stability on its border because without stability business suffers”
Do the many rebel groups fighting against the military regime even pursue the same goals?
Yes, of course.
We have contact with all of these groups.
Their common enemy is rule by the military junta.
In the past, some of the resistance groups have tried to establish their own states.
But they have now understood that this is not necessary if we ensure that every ethnic minority has the right to self-determination.
We share the same vision.
What does this vision look like?
First, the military regime must be overthrown.
Then we must ensure that the military is placed under civilian control.
That is why we must also abolish the 2008 constitution, which gives the military the right to veto every decision and in all areas of the state.
So we need a new constitution for a democratic, federal Myanmar.
This is our plan for day one after the end of military rule.
And till then?
In the areas we already control, we need to provide public services, such as a health system and schools.
But we can't do this alone, which is why we need international help.
Unfortunately, we sometimes feel that Myanmar is overlooked by the international community.
Political support is also important.
The National Accord Government must be recognized as the legitimate representative of Myanmar.
Because it emerged from relatively free and fair elections.
What role does Myanmar's big neighbor China play in this?
Beijing has so far supported the military junta, including with weapons, but recently started dialogue with some resistance groups.
China wants stability on its border because without stability, business suffers.
After the end of the corona pandemic, China wants to get its economy going, and cross-border trade is also important for this.
That is their top priority.
Our message to China is: There will never be stability in Myanmar under military rule.
“Aung San Suu Kyi is still a symbol of hope for us”
What role would Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and leader of the democracy movement, play in a democratic Myanmar?
Aung San Suu Kyi is still our head of government.
And it is still a symbol of hope for us and our guiding star.
After the end of the military junta, they and other senior leaders such as our President Win Myint, who is also in prison, will form an interim government together with the leaders of the ethnic groups.
Aung San Suu Kyi was sentenced to 27 years in prison by the military junta following the coup.
She is now 78 years old.
Do you know how she is?
From what we hear, she is still very strong mentally and her morale is high.
But of course she has some health problems due to her age.
After the end of military rule, the question of how to deal with the past also arises.
Justice is important.
We must acknowledge and accept what the generals have done.
But we shouldn't be concerned with hatred or revenge.
You yourself were imprisoned for eleven years after peacefully demonstrating against the junta in 1998, including nine years in solitary confinement.
Yes, of course it was a terrible situation at first, all alone in a small cell.
But I knew I had to survive because one day I would be free.
This thought gave me strength and helped me get through prison.
The junta wants us to feel weak and give up our hope and faith.
But I didn't do them that favor.