NAYPYITAW, Myanmar (AP) – Myanmar’s military struck a coup on Monday and arrested key politicians, including Nobel winner Aung San Suu Kyi – a sharp reversal of significant, though uneven, progress towards democracy as the nation Southeast Asia did after five decades of military rule.
An ad read on Myawaddy TV, owned by the military, said the commander-in-chief, General Min Aung Hlaing, would be in charge of the country for a year. He said the seizure was necessary because the government did not act on the military’s allegations of fraud in the November elections – in which Suu Kyi’s ruling party won most of the available parliamentary seats – and because it allowed the election to continue despite of the coronavirus pandemic.
The acquisition took place on the morning when the country’s new parliamentary session was due to begin and after days of concern over the arrival of a coup. The military says its actions are legally justified – citing a section of the constitution it drafted that allows it to take control in times of national emergency – although Suu Kyi’s party spokesman and many international observers have said that this amounts to a coup .
It was a dramatic setback for Myanmar, which emerged from decades of strict military rule and international isolation that began in 1962. It was also a shocking fall from power for Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace laureate who lived under house arrest for years as she tried push his country to democracy and then became his de facto leader after his National League for Democracy won the elections in 2015.
Although Suu Kyi was a fierce antagonist to the army while under house arrest, since her release and return to politics, she had to work with the country’s generals, who never gave up power entirely. Although the 75-year-old woman remained very popular at home, Suu Kyi’s deference to generals – going so far as to defend her crackdown on Rohingya Muslims that the United States and others have labeled genocide – has shattered her international reputation.
For some, Monday’s acquisition was seen as a confirmation that the military has ultimate power, despite the veneer of democracy. Human Rights Watch, based in New York, previously described the constitution clause that the military invoked as a “coup-in-waiting mechanism.”
The embarrassingly poor performance of the military-backed party in the November vote may have been the spark.
Larry Jagan, an independent analyst, said the acquisition was just “an excuse for the military to reaffirm their total 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 be part of that future.
The coup now represents a test for the international community, which had ostracized Myanmar while under military rule and then enthusiastically embraced the Suu Kyi government as a sign that the country was finally on the road 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 planned to seize power were reports that Suu Kyi and Win Myint, the country’s president, were detained before dawn.
Myo Nyunt, a spokesman for Suu Kyi’s party, told the online news service The Irrawaddy that, in addition to Suu Kyi and the president, members of the party’s Central Executive Committee, many of its legislators and other leaders were also detained.
Television signals were cut off across the country, as well as the telephone and Internet access in Naypyitaw, the capital, while passenger flights were cut off. Telephone service in other parts of the country has also been reported, although people could still use the Internet in many areas.
As word of military action spread in Yangon, the country’s largest city, there was a growing sense of unease among residents who, at the beginning of the day, had packed their bags in tea houses for breakfast and went out to do their morning shopping.
Around noon, people were removing the red flags from Suu Kyi’s party, which had previously adorned their homes and businesses. Queues formed at ATMs as people waited to withdraw money, efforts that were being complicated by interruptions on the Internet. The workers of some companies decided to return home.
Suu Kyi’s party released a statement on one of its Facebook pages saying that the military’s actions were unjustified and were against the constitution and the will of voters. The statement urged people to oppose Monday’s “coup” and any return to the “military dictatorship”. It was not possible to confirm who posted the message, as party members were not taking calls.
Military actions have also received international condemnation and many countries have called for the release of detained leaders.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken expressed “great concern and alarm” over the reported arrests.
“We ask the Burmese military leaders to release all government officials and civil society leaders and to respect the will of the people of Myanmar expressed in the democratic elections,” he wrote in a statement, using the old name of Myanmar.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called the events a “serious blow to democratic reforms”, according to his spokesman.
A list of people believed to have been detained, compiled by political activists, included several people who were not politicians, including activists, as well as a filmmaker and writer. These arrests could not be confirmed.
In addition to announcing that the commander-in-chief would be in charge, the military TV report said that vice president Myint Swe would be elevated to acting president. Myint Swe is a former general best known for leading a brutal crackdown on Buddhist monks in 2007. He is a close ally of Than Shwe, the leader of the junta that ruled Myanmar for nearly two decades.
In a later announcement, the military said an election would be held in a year and the military would hand over power to the winner.
The military justified its action by citing a clause in the 2008 constitution, implemented during the military regime, which says that, in cases of national emergency, the government’s executive, legislative and judicial powers can be handed over to the chief military commander.
It is just one of many parts of the letter that ensured that the military could maintain final control over the country. The military is allowed to nominate its members for 25% of seats in Parliament and controls several key ministries involved in security and defense.
In November polls, Suu Kyi’s party won 396 of the 476 seats for the royal election in the lower and upper chambers of parliament.
The military has accused massive election fraud – particularly with regard to voter lists – although it has offered no convincing evidence. The state Union Election Commission rejected the charges last week.
Concerns about an acquisition rose last week when a military spokesman refused to rule out the possibility of a coup, when asked by a reporter to do so at a news conference on Tuesday.
Then, on Wednesday, the military chief told senior officials in a speech that the constitution could be revoked if the laws were not being 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 having threatened a coup, accusing unidentified organizations and the media of misrepresenting their position.