Myanmar military seizes power, detains Suu Kyi over 'poll fraud'
Myanmar’s military seized power in a coup on Monday against the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained along with other leaders of her National League for Democracy party in early morning raids.
The army said it had carried out the detentions in response to “election fraud,” handing power to military chief Min Aung Hlaing and imposing a state of emergency for one year, according to a statement on a military-owned television station. Vice President Myint Swe would be elevated to acting president.
It said the reason for takeover was in part due to the government’s failure to act on the military’s claims of voter fraud in last November’s election and its failure to postpone the election because of the coronavirus crisis.
“Unless this problem is resolved, it will obstruct the path to democracy and it must therefore be resolved according to the law,” the military said, citing an emergency provision in the constitution in the event sovereignty is threatened.
Suu Kyi, who as state counsellor is the nation’s top leader, President Win Myint and other NLD leaders were “taken” in the early hours of the morning, NLD spokesman Myo Nyunt said. Suu Kyi’s party published comments on Facebook that it said had been written in anticipation of a coup, quoting her saying such army actions would put Myanmar “back under a dictatorship.”
“I urge people not to accept this, to respond and wholeheartedly to protest against the coup by the military,” it quoted her as saying.
The generals made their move hours before parliament had been due to sit for the first time since the NLD’s landslide win in a November 8 general election. In a later announcement, the military said an election would be held in a year and the military would hand power over to the winner.
Soldiers stand guard on a blockaded road to Myanmar’s parliament in Naypyitaw on Monday after the military detained the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and the country’s president in a coup.
Phone and Internet connections in the capital, Naypyitaw, and the main commercial center of Yangon were disrupted and state television went off air after the NLD leaders were detained. The military sealed off roads around the capital with armed troops, trucks and armored personnel carriers. Military helicopters flew across the city.
Troops and riot police stood by in Yangon where residents rushed to markets to stock up on supplies and others lined up at ATMs to withdraw cash. Banks suspended services due to poor Internet connections.
The Yangon International Airport will be closed till May this year, according to civil aviation authorities.
The detentions follows days of concern about the threat of a military coup — and military denials that it would stage one.
Suu Kyi’s party won 83 percent of the vote in only the second election since the military agreed to share power in 2011. The military has charged that there was massive voting fraud in the election, though it has failed to provide proof. The state Union Election Commission last week rejected its allegations.
Supporters of the military celebrated the coup, parading through Yangon in pickup trucks and waving national flags. “Today is the day that people are happy,” one nationalist monk told a crowd in a video published on Facebook.
But others were horrified and angry. “Our country was a bird that was just learning to fly. Now the army broke our wings,” student activist Si Thu Tun said.
People line up outside a bank in Yangon on Monday as a sense of unease grew.
Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi, 75, became the country’s de facto leader after her party won 2015 elections, though the constitution barred her from being president. She had been a fierce antagonist of the army during her time under house arrest. Her international reputation was damaged after she failed to stop the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims in 2017.
The United Nations led condemnation of Monday's coup and calls for the release of detainees and restoration of democracy in comments largely mirrored by Australia, Britain, the European Union, India, Japan and the United States.
China called on all sides in Myanmar to respect the constitution and uphold stability.
“We have noted what has happened in Myanmar and are in the process of further understanding the situation,” foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said. “China is a friendly neighbor of Myanmar’s. We hope that all sides in Myanmar can appropriately handle their differences under the constitution and legal framework and safeguard political and social stability,” he added.
