Naypyitaw, Myanmar – Myanmar’s military television network said on Monday that the military took control of the country for a year, amid reports that many of the country’s top politicians, including Aung San Suu Kyi, were detained. The acquisition was quickly condemned as a coup by the European Union and human rights groups, and President Joe Biden’s new government in Washington expressed “grave concern”.
A Myawaddy TV host, from Myanmar’s military property, announced the acquisition and cited a section of the draft military constitution that allows the military to take control in times of national emergency. He said the acquisition was partly due to the government’s failure to act on the military’s allegations of electoral fraud in last November’s election and its failure to postpone the election because of the coronavirus crisis.
The military said they would hold a new election at the end of the state of emergency and hand over power to the winner. The Suu Kyi National League for Democracy won a landslide victory in last November’s general elections, humiliating the opposition party, Union Solidarity and Development, backed by the military.
The military TV report said that commander in chief, senior general Min Aung Hlaing, would be in charge of the country, while 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 former junta leader Than Shwe.
The announcements and declaration of a state of emergency followed days of concern over the threat of a military coup – and military denials that it would be the first step – and came on the morning when the country’s new parliament session was due to begin. .
Suu Kyi’s political party, the National League for Democracy, urged the people of Myanmar to oppose Monday’s “coup” and any return to the “military dictatorship”. The statement posted on Suu Kyi’s Facebook page said the military actions were unjustified and were against the constitution and the will of voters.
The acquisition is a sudden reversal of the partial but significant progress towards democracy that Myanmar has made in recent years, after five decades of military rule and international isolation that began in 1962. It would also be shocking to fall to Suu Kyi, who he led the fight for democracy despite years under house arrest and won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
“Serious worry and alarm”
The military’s actions have brought swift and widespread international condemnation.
The new United States Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, issued a statement expressing “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 Burmese people expressed in the democratic elections,” he wrote, using the old name of Myanmar. “The United States is with the people of Burma in their aspirations for democracy, freedom, peace and development.”
“The United States is alarmed by reports that the Burmese military has taken steps to undermine the country’s democratic transition, including the arrest of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian officials in Burma,” said the White House spokesman. Jen Psaki in a statement.
She said that President Joe Biden was informed about the events.
“The United States is opposed to any attempt to alter the outcome of the last elections or prevent Myanmar’s democratic transition and will take action against those responsible if those measures are not reversed,” the statement said.
The UN Secretary-General’s office was also one that issued a statement condemning the events as a “serious blow to democratic reforms”.
In Brussels, the president of the European Council of the European Union, Charles Michel, issued a statement strongly condemning “the coup in Myanmar” and calling on the military to “release all those who were illegally detained in attacks across the country”.
“The outcome of the elections must be respected and the democratic process must be restored,” he said.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen echoed the condemnation and insisted on Twitter that “legitimate civilian government must be restored”.
Harnessing the power
The arrest of politicians and cuts in television signals and communications services on Monday were the first signs that plans to seize power were underway. The phone and Internet access in Naypyitaw were lost. Telephone service in other parts of the country has also been reported, although people could still use the Internet in many areas.
Irrawaddy, an established online news service, reported that Suu Kyi, who as state advisor is the country’s top leader, and the country’s president, Win Myint, were both arrested in the early hours. The news service quoted Myo Nyunt, an NLD spokesman.
His report said that members of the party’s Central Executive Committee, legislators and members of the regional cabinet were also detained.
A list of other people believed to have been detained, compiled by political activists who asked for anonymity for security reasons, included filmmaker Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, writer Maung Thar Cho and prominent veterans of the country’s student protest movement in 1988 , such as Ko Ko Gyi and Min Ko Naing. His arrest could not be confirmed immediately.
As word of the military’s actions spread in Yangon, the country’s largest city, there was a growing sense of unease among residents who, at the start of the day, were still packed in cafes for breakfast and were doing your morning shopping.
People were removing the bright red flags of 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.
Monday’s parliamentary session was the first since last year’s election, as tension persisted with the military’s recent comments that were widely seen as a coup threat.
The 2008 constitution, drafted and implemented during the military regime, has a clause that says that, in the event of a national emergency, the president in coordination with the Defense and National Security Council, dominated by the military, can issue an emergency decree to hand over the government executive, legislative and judicial powers to the commander in chief of the military.
The clause was described by Human Rights Watch, New York, as a “coup-in-waiting mechanism”.
It is just one of many parts of the charter that ensured that the military could maintain final control over the country at the expense of elected politicians. The military was also guaranteed 25% of seats in Parliament and control of several important ministries, especially those involved in security and defense.
Suu Kyi, 75, is by far the most popular policy in the country and became the de facto leader of the country after his party won the 2015 elections, although the constitution forbade her to be president. She had been a fierce army antagonist during her period under house arrest.
However, once in power, Suu Kyi had to balance his relationship with the country’s generals and even went on the international stage to defend his crackdown on Rohingya Muslims in the west of the country, a campaign that the US and others have labeled genocide. This left his international reputation in shambles.
She remains very popular at home, where most supported the campaign against the Rohingya. Suu Kyi’s party won 396 of the 476 seats in the combined lower and upper chambers of parliament in last November’s elections.
The military, known as Tatmadaw, has accused mass electoral fraud, although they have produced no evidence. The state Union Election Commission rejected the charges last week.