Myanmar’s military seized power on Monday in a coup against the democratically elected government of Nobel winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who was arrested along with other leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party in morning attacks.
The army said it carried out the arrests in response to “electoral fraud”, handing over power to military chief Min Aung Hlaing and imposing a state of emergency for a year, according to a statement on a military television station.
The generals acted hours before parliament met for the first time since the NLD’s landslide victory in a November 8 election seen as a referendum on Suu Kyi’s fledgling democratic government.
Telephone lines to the capital Naypyitaw and Yangon’s main shopping center were not accessible, and state TV went offline. People rushed to markets in Yangon to stock up on food and supplies, while others lined up at ATMs to withdraw money.
The soldiers held positions in the Yangon prefecture and mobile Internet data and telephone services in the NLD stronghold were disrupted, residents said. Internet connectivity has also dropped dramatically, said monitoring service NetBlocks.
Suu Kyi, Myanmar President Win Myint and other NLD leaders were “taken” in the early hours of the morning, NLD spokesman Myo Nyunt told Reuters by telephone.
“I want to tell our people not to respond hastily and I want them to act according to the law,” he said, adding that he himself expected to be arrested. Subsequently, Reuters was unable to contact him.
A video posted on Facebook by a deputy appeared to show the arrest of another, regional lawmaker Pa Pa Han.
In the video, her husband pleads with men in military dress outside the gate. A child can be seen clinging to his chest and crying.
The arrests came after days of escalating tension between the civilian government and the military, which sparked fears of a coup after the elections.
Suu Kyi’s party won 83% of the vote only in the second election, since a military junta agreed to split power in 2011.
The White House said President Joe Biden was informed about the arrests and Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for the leaders to be released.
“The United States is with the people of Burma in their aspirations for democracy, freedom, peace and development. The military must reverse these actions immediately, ”he said in a statement, using an alternative name for Myanmar.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the arrest of Suu Kyi and other political leaders and “urges the military leadership to respect the will of the people of Myanmar,” said a UN spokesman.
The Australian government said it was “deeply concerned by reports that the Myanmar military is trying to take control of Myanmar once again”.
Japan said it is watching the situation and has no plans to repatriate Japanese citizens from Myanmar, while India’s Foreign Ministry has expressed deep concern about the coup.
Singapore has a “grave” concern about the unfolding situation in Myanmar and has urged all sides to work for a peaceful outcome, said its Foreign Ministry.
Coup Preparation
Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi, 75, came to power after a victory in the 2015 elections that followed decades of house arrest in a struggle for democracy with the Myanmar junta that transformed her into an international icon.
Its international position was damaged after hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled army operations to take refuge in the state of Rakhine, in western Myanmar, in 2017, but it remains very popular at home.
Political tensions rose last week when a military spokesman refused to rule out a coup before the new parliament meeting on Monday, and military chief Min Aung Hlaing raised the possibility of revoking the constitution.
Tanks were placed on some streets last week and pro-military demonstrations took place in some cities before the first parliamentary meeting.
Myanmar’s electoral commission rejected military allegations of electoral fraud.
The country’s constitution, published in 2008 after decades of military rule, reserves 25% of seats in parliament for the military and control of three important ministries in the administration of Suu Kyi.
In their statement declaring a state of emergency, the military cited the electoral commission’s failure to address complaints about voter lists, its refusal to agree to a request to postpone new parliamentary sessions and protests by groups dissatisfied with the election.
“Unless this problem is resolved, it will obstruct the path to democracy and therefore must be resolved in accordance with the law,” the statement said, citing an emergency clause in the constitution if national sovereignty is threatened.
Daniel Russel, the top US diplomat for East Asia under former President Barack Obama, who fostered close ties to Suu Kyi, described the military takeover as a severe blow to democracy in the region.
“If true, this is a major setback – not just for democracy in Myanmar, but for US interests. It is yet another reminder that the prolonged absence of reliable and stable US involvement in the region has encouraged anti-democratic forces, ”he said.
Human Rights Watch’s director of defense in Asia, John Sifton, criticized the White House’s initial response as “disappointingly weak” and called for a more coordinated international reaction.
“The United States needs to work with the allies to speak more clearly, in unison, in terms of ultimatums, to warn the Myanmar military of the specific consequences that will occur if their coup is not reversed,” he said.