NAYPYITAW, Myanmar - According to an announcement broadcast by state-run media on Wednesday evening, members of Myanmar's National Defence and Security Council (NDSC) met in Naypyitaw and decided to extend the country's state of emergency and the term of the junta led by Min Aung Hlaing for another six months.

The junta chief presented to council members a report on two years of military rule, as required by the army-drafted 2008 Constitution, which he used to justify his claim to power when he staged a coup on February 1, 2021.

The charter states in Section 425 that "if the Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Services submits the extension of the prescribed duration by giving reasons why he has not been able to accomplish the assigned duties," the NDSC can "normally permit two extensions of the prescribed duration for a term of six months for each extension."

When it took power, the military declared a state of emergency for a year, which it has since extended twice for six months each. The last one expired on Wednesday.

Min Aung Hlaing claimed in the official announcement that the nation is still confronted with acts of "terror" perpetrated by the People's Defence Force, which has formed chapters throughout the country to oppose the coup regime and has allied with ethnic armed organizations.

Members of the NDSC then decided to extend Min Aung Hlaing's self-described State Administration Council's rule for another six months, concluding that the country was still in "extraordinary" circumstances and had "not yet returned to normalcy." They used the same section of the Constitution, 425, to justify the extension.