<p>Anti-coup demonstrators pushed on with protests Sunday as Myanmar neared its seventh week under military rule, as a group of MPs in hiding urge them to move with "invincibility" to overcome the nation's "darkest moment".</p>.<p>The country has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi from power in a February 1 putsch, triggering a mass uprising that has seen hundreds of thousands protest daily for a return to democracy.</p>.<p>The junta has repeatedly justified its power grab by alleging widespread electoral fraud in November's elections, which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party had swept in a landslide.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/myanmar-civilian-leader-says-people-should-defend-themselves-as-toll-mounts-961812.html" target="_blank">Myanmar civilian leader says people should defend themselves as toll mounts</a></strong></p>.<p>In response, a group of elected MPs, many of whom are in hiding, had formed a shadow "parliament" called the Committee for Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) -- the Burmese word for the country's governing bloc -- to denounce the military regime.</p>.<p>The junta's security forces have staged near-daily crackdowns against demonstrators calling for a return to democracy, deploying tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds to quell anti-coup protests which have seen more than 70 killed.</p>.<p>Despite the growing death toll, protesters have continued taking to the streets -- Sunday saw sit-ins in commercial hub Yangon, marches through the coastal city of Dawei, and civil servants hoisting Suu Kyi's poster defiantly at a gather in the central city of Monywa.</p>.<p>"May the fallen heroes who have given their lives in this spring revolution rest in peace!" changed protesters wearing hard hats in Yangon's Thaketa township -- which has seen bouts of violence this week between security forces and residents.</p>.<p>Their daytime gatherings come a day after the acting vice president of the CRPH called for the people to continue protesting against the military's "unjust dictatorship".</p>.<p>"This is the darkest moment of the nation and the light before the dawn is close," said Mahn Win Khaing Than in a recorded video posted on the CRPH's Facebook page Saturday night.</p>.<p>"This is also a moment testing our citizens to see how far we can resist these darkest times," said the politician, a high-ranking NLD politician who served as speaker of the house during Suu Kyi's previous administration.</p>.<p>Along with other top Suu Kyi allies, he had been placed under house arrest during the February 1 power grab, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group.</p>.<p>His address Saturday would be his first appearance in his capacity as CRPH's acting vice president, and he echoed the anti-coup movement's calls for a "federal democracy" -- which would allow ethnic minority groups to have a role in Myanmar's governance.</p>.<p>"This uprising is also the chance for all of us to struggle together hand-in-hand to establish a federal democracy union which we -- all ethnic brothers and sisters who have been suffering various kinds of oppression from military dictatorship -- have long desired," he said.</p>.<p>"The federal democracy union... is waiting for us in the near future if we move forward unitedly with invincibility," Mahn Win Khaing Than said.</p>.<p>"We must win the uprising."</p>.<p>The committee has issued several statements since its formation, but the protest movement on the ground appears largely leaderless -- with daily rallies organised by local activists.</p>.<p>The junta -- self-anointed as the State Administration Council -- had said the CRPH's formation is akin to "high treason", which carries a maximum sentence of 22 years in jail.</p>
<p>Anti-coup demonstrators pushed on with protests Sunday as Myanmar neared its seventh week under military rule, as a group of MPs in hiding urge them to move with "invincibility" to overcome the nation's "darkest moment".</p>.<p>The country has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi from power in a February 1 putsch, triggering a mass uprising that has seen hundreds of thousands protest daily for a return to democracy.</p>.<p>The junta has repeatedly justified its power grab by alleging widespread electoral fraud in November's elections, which Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party had swept in a landslide.</p>.<p><strong>Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/myanmar-civilian-leader-says-people-should-defend-themselves-as-toll-mounts-961812.html" target="_blank">Myanmar civilian leader says people should defend themselves as toll mounts</a></strong></p>.<p>In response, a group of elected MPs, many of whom are in hiding, had formed a shadow "parliament" called the Committee for Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH) -- the Burmese word for the country's governing bloc -- to denounce the military regime.</p>.<p>The junta's security forces have staged near-daily crackdowns against demonstrators calling for a return to democracy, deploying tear gas, rubber bullets and live rounds to quell anti-coup protests which have seen more than 70 killed.</p>.<p>Despite the growing death toll, protesters have continued taking to the streets -- Sunday saw sit-ins in commercial hub Yangon, marches through the coastal city of Dawei, and civil servants hoisting Suu Kyi's poster defiantly at a gather in the central city of Monywa.</p>.<p>"May the fallen heroes who have given their lives in this spring revolution rest in peace!" changed protesters wearing hard hats in Yangon's Thaketa township -- which has seen bouts of violence this week between security forces and residents.</p>.<p>Their daytime gatherings come a day after the acting vice president of the CRPH called for the people to continue protesting against the military's "unjust dictatorship".</p>.<p>"This is the darkest moment of the nation and the light before the dawn is close," said Mahn Win Khaing Than in a recorded video posted on the CRPH's Facebook page Saturday night.</p>.<p>"This is also a moment testing our citizens to see how far we can resist these darkest times," said the politician, a high-ranking NLD politician who served as speaker of the house during Suu Kyi's previous administration.</p>.<p>Along with other top Suu Kyi allies, he had been placed under house arrest during the February 1 power grab, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners monitoring group.</p>.<p>His address Saturday would be his first appearance in his capacity as CRPH's acting vice president, and he echoed the anti-coup movement's calls for a "federal democracy" -- which would allow ethnic minority groups to have a role in Myanmar's governance.</p>.<p>"This uprising is also the chance for all of us to struggle together hand-in-hand to establish a federal democracy union which we -- all ethnic brothers and sisters who have been suffering various kinds of oppression from military dictatorship -- have long desired," he said.</p>.<p>"The federal democracy union... is waiting for us in the near future if we move forward unitedly with invincibility," Mahn Win Khaing Than said.</p>.<p>"We must win the uprising."</p>.<p>The committee has issued several statements since its formation, but the protest movement on the ground appears largely leaderless -- with daily rallies organised by local activists.</p>.<p>The junta -- self-anointed as the State Administration Council -- had said the CRPH's formation is akin to "high treason", which carries a maximum sentence of 22 years in jail.</p>