Yangon ¨C Myanmar¡¯s junta ended its state of emergency on Thursday after 4? years, ramping up plans for a December election that opposition groups pledged to boycott and monitors said will be used to consolidate the military¡¯s power.

The military declared a state of emergency in February 2021 as it deposed the civilian government of democratic leader Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking a multi-sided civil war that has claimed thousands of lives.

The order gave junta chief Min Aung Hlaing supreme power over the legislature, executive and judiciary ¡ª but he has recently touted elections as an off-ramp to the conflict.

Opposition groups including ex-lawmakers ousted in the coup have pledged to snub the poll, which a U.N. expert last month dismissed as ¡°a fraud¡± designed to legitimize the military¡¯s continuing rule.

The junta seized power making unsubstantiated claims of fraud in a 2020 election that Suu Kyi¡¯s National League for Democracy won in a landslide. She remains jailed alongside their other top leaders.

¡°The state of emergency is abolished today in order for the country to hold elections on the path to a multi-party democracy,¡± junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said in a voice message shared with reporters.

¡°Elections will be held within six months,¡± he added.

An order signed by Min Aung Hlaing cancelled the emergency rule that handed power to him as the armed forces chief, returning it to the head of state.

However, he also occupies that office as the country¡¯s acting president.

¡°We have already passed the first chapter,¡± Min Aung Hlaing said in a speech in Naypyidaw reported in state newspaper The Global New Light of Myanmar on Thursday.

¡°Now, we are starting the second chapter,¡± he told members of the junta¡¯s administration council at what the newspaper called an ¡°honorary ceremony¡± for its members.

Analysts predict that following the election Min Aung Hlaing will keep a role as either president or armed forces chief and consolidate power in that office, thereby extending his tenure as de facto ruler.

A flurry of notices announced a new ¡°Union Government¡± had been formed alongside a ¡°National Security and Peace Commission¡± to oversee defense and the election process, both led by him.

¡°The upcoming election will be held this December, and efforts will be made to enable all eligible voters to cast their ballots,¡± The Global New Light of Myanmar reported, paraphrasing another part of his speech.

A foreign ministry spokesman of junta ally China said Beijing supports ¡°Myanmar¡¯s various parties and factions properly resolving differences through political means under the constitutional and legal framework.¡±

No exact date for the poll has been announced by the junta, but political parties are being registered while training sessions...