Coup in Burma | The army has stopped …

Burmese (Myanmar) military staged coup and removed political leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was arrested along with much of her cabinet, as well as activists and artists who support the government. Suu Kyi asked citizens to “Protest with all your heart against the coup”.

On Monday, the Burmese army surrounded the capital, Naypyidaw, before the parliament formed in the elections last November entered its first session. The armed forces declared, via their television channel, state of emergency for one year and they announced that former general and vice president Myint Swe would serve as the country’s presidency.

As reported by Myawaddy News, a channel controlled by the Myint Swe army He ceded all powers to the head of the armed forces, Min Aung Hlaing. Myint Swe and the fallen Aung San Suu Kyi were arrested along with other members of the government.

The army denounces that during the legislative elections of last year, huge irregularities were committed. At the time, the ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), had won a landslide victory.

In a statement posted on Facebook, the military said that “as the situation must be resolved according to law, a state of emergency is declared” and a new vote will be called in a year. “We are going to set up a true multiparty democracy,” they promised.

For its part, the LND issued a statement on behalf of Suu Kyi in which he denounced that “the actions of the military are bringing the country back to dictatorship”. The political leader asked the Burmese people not to accept this situation and to “protest wholeheartedly against the coup”.

International repudiation of the coup

The coup caused an avalanche of international convictions. The United States, the United Kingdom or the European Union immediately denounced the coup, while China confined itself to asking the parties concerned to “settle their differences”.

“The United States opposes any attempt to alter the outcome of the recent election … and we will take action against those responsible.”White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki warned in a statement.

For his part, the Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), Antonio Guterres, “strongly condemned” the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi. “These events are a heavy blow to democratic reforms in Burma,” he added.

Coups d’etat in Burma

Burma, also known internationally as Myanmar, emerged barely ten years ago from a military rule that ruled the country for nearly half a century. The last two coups d’état since the country’s independence in 1948 date back to 1962 and 1988.

Aung San Suu Kyi, 75, won the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize. Suu Kyi was imprisoned between 1989 and 2010 for calling for a return to democracy in her country and won the first free elections which were held in 2015 and that she became State Councilor.

However, during the Suu Kyi government, Burma was accused by The Hague of genocide of the Rohingya ethnic minority, after 750,000 members of that Muslim population fled to Bangladesh in 2017.