Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing visited a Western Military Command Sittwe army base in Rakhine State on the afternoon of 26 February.

He and his wife met officers, soldiers and their families who live on the base and presented them with food parcels before visiting the Tatmadaw Hospital in Sittwe where he gave out more food parcels, according to junta-aligned Myawady Daily Newspaper.

Whilst at the army base, Min Aung Hlaing also made a speech.

In the speech, he told Myanmar army officers and soldiers to take a role in national politics in response to recent political developments.

He also emphasised that soldiers should always be obedient, disciplined, and follow orders, possibly in response to recent cases where officers in Karen State refused to follow orders to launch an attack because they considered such attacks to be suicide missions.

He also instructed the listening soldiers to have self-control so that they lead a healthy and balanced lifestyle and stay fit. He also told officers that they need to lead their troops in a balanced way and be good commanders.

According to the junta-aligned Mirror Daily News, he also said that many ethnic people want multi-party democracy, but lessons need to be learned from the 2020 multiparty democratic election. He highlighted that there is a need to ensure voter lists are accurate by carrying out the currently underway national census.

The upcoming junta elections and the census have been criticised for being illegitimate and many anti-junta groups have called on people to not take part in the elections or cooperate with the census.