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NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP) – The Burmese military staged a coup on Monday and arrested senior politicians, including Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi – a brutal reversal of important, albeit uneven, progress towards democracy that the Southeast Asian nation has achieved after five decades of military rule.
An ad read on military-owned Myawaddy TV said the Commander-in-Chief, General-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, would be in charge of the country for a year. He said the seizure was necessary because the government failed to act on allegations of military fraud in the November election – in which Suu Kyi’s ruling party won a majority of parliamentary seats in win – and because it allowed the elections to go ahead despite the Corona virus pandemic.
The takeover took place on the morning of the opening of the country’s new parliamentary session and follows days of concern over the coming coup. The military maintains its actions are legally justified – citing a section of the constitution it drafted that allows it to take control in a national emergency – although Suu Kyi’s party spokesman as well as many international observers have said it amounts to a coup.
It was a dramatic setback for Myanmar, emerging from decades of strict military rule and international isolation that began in 1962. It was also a shocking fall from power for Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate who had lived through under house arrest for years. she tried to push her country towards democracy, then became its de facto leader after her National League for Democracy won the 2015 elections.
While Suu Kyi had been a fierce antagonist of the military when under house arrest, since her release and return to politics, she has had to work with the country’s generals, who never completely relinquished power. While the 75-year-old has remained extremely popular at home, Suu Kyi’s deference to generals – going so far as to defend their crackdown on Rohingya Muslims whom the United States and others have called genocide – has left behind. its international reputation in tatters.
For some, Monday’s takeover was seen as confirmation that the military holds ultimate power despite the veneer of democracy. New York-based Human Rights Watch has previously described the clause in the constitution that the military invoked as a “standby coup mechanism.”
The embarrassing poor performance of the military-backed party in the November vote may have been the spark.
Larry Jagan, an independent analyst, said the takeover was just “a pretext for the military to reaffirm their full influence over the country’s political infrastructure and determine the future, at least in the short term.” , adding that the generals do not. want Suu Kyi to be part of that future.
The coup now presents a test for the international community, which had ostracized Myanmar while under military rule and then enthusiastically embraced Suu Kyi’s government as a sign that the country was finally on the path to democracy. There will likely be calls for the reintroduction of at least some of the sanctions the country has faced for a long time.
The first signs that the military was planning to take power were reports that Suu Kyi and Win Myint, the president of the country, had been arrested before dawn.
Myo Nyunt, spokesperson for Suu Kyi’s party, told The Irrawaddy online news service that in addition to Suu Kyi and the chairman, members of the party’s central executive committee, many lawmakers and other senior leaders had have also been detained.
Television signals were cut across the country, as were telephone and internet access in Naypyitaw, the capital, while passenger flights were blocked. Phone service in other parts of the country has also been reported to be down, although people can still use the internet in many areas.
As news of the military’s actions spread in Yangon, the country’s largest city, there was a growing sense of unease among residents who, earlier in the day, had gathered in tea rooms. for breakfast and did their morning shopping.
At noon, people removed the bright red flags of Suu Kyi’s party that once adorned their homes and businesses. Queues formed at ATMs as people waited to withdraw money, efforts that were complicated by internet disruptions. The workers of some companies have decided to return home.
Suu Kyi’s party posted a statement on one of its Facebook pages claiming that the military’s actions were unwarranted and went against the constitution and the will of the voters. The statement urged people to oppose Monday’s “coup” and any return to “military dictatorship.” It was not possible to confirm who posted the message as group members were not answering phone calls.
The military’s actions have also been condemned by the international community, and many countries have called for the release of the detained leaders.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken has expressed “deep concern and concern” over the reported detentions.
“We call on the Burmese military leaders to release all government officials and civil society leaders and to respect the will of the Burmese people expressed in democratic elections,” he wrote in a statement, using the old name of Myanmar.
The office of the United Nations Secretary General has called these developments “a blow to democratic reforms.”
A list of people suspected of having been detained, compiled by political activists, included several people who were not politicians, including activists as well as a filmmaker and a writer. These detentions could not be confirmed.
In addition to announcing that the commander-in-chief would be in charge, the military TV report said Vice President Myint Swe would be elevated to the post of interim president. Myint Swe is a former general known to have led a brutal crackdown on Buddhist monks in 2007. He is a close ally of Than Shwe, the leader of the junta who ruled Myanmar for nearly two decades.
In a subsequent announcement, the military said an election would take place in a year and the military would hand power to the winner.
The military justified its decision by citing a clause in the 2008 constitution, implemented during military rule, which states that in the event of a national emergency, the executive, legislative and judicial powers of the government may be vested in the commander. in military chief.
It was just one of the many parts of the charter that guaranteed the military to retain ultimate control over the country. The military is authorized to appoint its members to 25% of seats in parliament and it controls several key ministries involved in security and defense.
In the November polls, Suu Kyi’s party won 396 out of 476 seats for the actual elections to the lower and upper houses of parliament.
The military has accused massive fraud in the election – especially with regard to voter lists – although it has provided no convincing evidence. The National Union Election Commission last week rejected his allegations.
Concerns over a takeover rose last week when a military spokesperson refused to rule out the possibility of a coup at a journalist’s request to do so at a press conference Tuesday.
Then, on Wednesday, the military chief told senior officers in a speech that the constitution could be revoked if the laws were not properly enforced. An unusual deployment of armored vehicles on the streets of several major cities has also fueled fears.
On Saturday and Sunday, however, the military denied threatening a coup, accusing anonymous organizations and media of distorting its position.
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