Myanmar military chief vows to cooperate with gov't in transition

Myanmar's Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces Senior-General Min Aung Hlaing vowed on Sunday to cooperate with the government to ensure a smooth transfer of power. Min Aung Hlaing made the remarks at a military parade held in the capital to mark the 71st Armed Forces Day. The general warned of two main obstacles in democracy implementation, which are weakness in observing discipline, rules and regulations, and existence of armed insurgency. He stressed that the military will safeguard the country, take care of the people and assist the government in implementing steady development. President-elect U Htin Kyaw, nominated by the National League for Democracy (NLD) which won the Nov. 8 general election, will be sworn in at a ceremony on Wednesday. Noting that the armed forces are tasked to lay a good foundation for democratic transition and maintain a stable period of transition, he said the military will not tolerate such acts as deviation from the good foundation for transition that may lead to loss of national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and disintegration of the union. He stressed the role of military in domestic peace efforts which resulted in the signing of the Nationwide Ceasefire Accord (NCA) in October last year, while calling on the remaining non-ceasefire armed groups to follow suit. Myanmar's Armed Forces Day was originally known as the Resistance (against Fascist) Day.