to the ousted NLD government. The CRPH found itself in the position of lagging behind an emergent revolutionary consciousness that aspired to reach beyond NLD party incrementalism. To remain relevant, the CRPH was forced to adapt its policies on the fly in conformity with new collective aspirations. In the effort to step in front of an already moving parade and reserve for itself the semblance of legitimacy to represent the aspirations of the anti-coup movement, CRPH professed democratic goals that had previously seemed beyond reach: abolition of the 2008 Constitution, forming a federal army with the ethnic armed organizations, and remaking the polity as a federal democracy. The rise of semi-autonomous administrative zones is another example of how CRPH followed political activities already in motion while solidifying leadership of the anti-coup movement. When wards faced coordinated attacks from security forces or from thugs, residents started to discuss in their neighbourhoods and on social media how to defend their communities from attacks. Neighbourhood protection associations spontaneously formed in the early weeks of February as a defence against the military’s night raids and kidnappings. They started building barricades and deployed watchmen. In some wards, every household paid the fees to the night-watchers, while in others one person from each family in the street or block would rotate taking night-watch duty. Neighbourhood watches established channels for informationsharing through various social messaging apps—Messenger, Signal, Zello, PTT Walkie Talkie—in addition to the pot banging alarm system used when the military entered neighbourhoods when the Internet was down at night. These grassroots defensive techniques were soon mobilized to target pro-military informers and local administrative authorities reporting on the opposition from inside neighbourhoods. Ward and village tract level administrative associations emerged and elected their own representatives, ousting junta-aligned representatives from their posts. In townships such as Thaketa, in eastern Yangon, households brought their own padlocks to lock the military-controlled township administrative office. Administrative replacements were selected through local committee decision-making and, where necessary, funds were collected to support individuals in their roles representing these new Pa-a-pha 27 21-J07648 01 Trends_2021-7.indd 27 28/4/21 9:34 AM