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YANGON, Myanmar (AP) – Hundreds of Myanmar members of parliament remained confined to their government accommodation in the country’s capital on Tuesday, a day after the military staged a coup and arrested senior politicians, including Nobel laureate and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
One of the lawmakers said he and 400 members of parliament were able to speak to each other inside the complex and communicate with their constituents by phone, but were not allowed to leave the Naypyitaw housing complex. He said the police were inside the compound and the soldiers were outside.
The lawmaker said the politicians, made up of members of Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party and various small parties, had spent a sleepless night fearing they would be taken away but were otherwise fine.
“We had to stay awake and vigilant,” said the lawmaker, who spoke on condition of anonymity for safety’s sake.
The takeover came on the morning when lawmakers across the country gathered in the capital for the opening of the new parliamentary session and follows days of concern over the coming coup. State. The military 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 seats parliamentarians to win – and because it allowed the elections to go ahead despite the coronavirus pandemic.
An announcement read on Army-owned Myawaddy TV on Monday said that Chief General Min Aung Hlaing would be in charge of the country for a year. On Monday evening, the office of the commander-in-chief announced the names of the new ministers. The 11-member cabinet is made up of military generals, former military generals, and former advisers to a previous government led by former General Thein Sein.
The coup is a dramatic step backwards for Myanmar, emerging from decades of strict military rule and international isolation that began in 1962. It now presents a test for the international community, which had ostracized Myanmar at the time. that he was under military rule, then enthusiastically adopted Suu Kyi’s government, a sign that the country was finally on the path to democracy. US President Joe Biden threatened new sanctions, which the country had previously faced.
On Tuesday, in Yangon, the country’s largest city, the streets were quieter than usual, but taxis and buses were still running and there was no outward sign of strong security.
The Myanmar Times, in English, made headlines about the state of emergency, while other state newspapers showed photographs of the front page of the National Defense and Security Council meeting of Monday, which new interim president Myint Swe and Min Aung Hlaing attended along with other military officials.
The military has argued 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.
The takeover marks a shocking fall from power for Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who had lived under house arrest for years as she tried to push her country towards democracy, then became its leader. facto after his party won the 2015 election.
Suu Kyi had been a fierce critic of the military during her years in detention. But after her transition from the icon of democracy to the politician, she had to work with the generals who, despite the authorization of elections, had never completely relinquished power.
While the 75-year-old has remained popular at home, Suu Kyi’s deference to the generals – going so far as to defend their crackdown on Rohingya Muslims whom the United States and others have called genocide – has left its mark. tarnished reputation abroad.
The coup has been condemned by the international community and many countries have called for the release of the detained leaders.
Biden called the military’s actions a “direct assault on the country’s transition to democracy and the rule of law” and said Washington would not hesitate to reinstate sanctions.
“The United States will stand up for democracy wherever it is attacked,” he said in a statement.
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called these developments “a blow to democratic reforms”, according to his spokesperson. The Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on the military’s actions – likely on Tuesday, according to Britain, which currently holds the presidency of the council.
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