Naypyitaw, Myanmar – The Myanmar army-led television channel said on Monday that the military had taken control of the country for a year, amid reports that it had detained many of the country’s top politicians, including Aung San Suu Kyi. The inauguration was quickly condemned by a coup by European leaders, while the newly invested administration of President Joe Biden in Washington expressed its “grave concern.”
Ramy Inocencio, a CBS News Asia correspondent, managed to get in touch with a friend in the country’s largest city, Yangon, even though most lines of communication were cut off by the military. The friend told Innocent that people were panicking about buying food and running to ATMs to try to withdraw their money while military rulers stopped all flights in the country and closed banks.
A presenter of Myawaddy TV, a military property in Myanmar, announced the acquisition and cited a section of the constitution drafted by the army that allows the military to take control in times of national emergency. He said the inauguration was due, in part, to the fact that the government did not act on allegations of fraud by Army voters in last November’s elections and that it did not postpone the elections due to the coronavirus crisis.
The military said it would hold new elections at the end of the state of emergency and hand over power to the winner. Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party won a landslide victory in last November’s general election, humiliating the opposition with the support of the party, Union Solidarity and Development Party.
The military television report said the 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 board leader Than Shwe.
Announcements and a declaration of a state of emergency followed days of concern over the threat of a military coup – and military denials that it would make one – and the morning came to begin the country’s new parliamentary session. .
Suu Kyi’s 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 that the actions of the military were unjustified and went against the constitution and the will of the voters.
The acquisition represents a sharp reversal of the partial but significant advances towards Myanmar’s democracy made in recent years after five decades of military rule and international isolation that began in 1962. It would also be a shocking fall to power for Suu. Kyi, who led the democratic struggle. despite years under house arrest and won a Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts.
“Alarm and serious concern”
The actions of the military led to a rapid and widespread international condemnation.
New U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken issued a statement expressing “grave concern and alarm” over the reported arrests.
“We call on the Burmese military leaders to release all government officials and civil society leaders and respect the will of the people of Burma as expressed in the democratic elections,” he wrote, using Myanmar’s former name. “The United States stands by the people of Burma in its aspirations for democracy, freedom, peace and development. The military must reverse these actions immediately.”
The office of the UN secretary-general was one of the people to issue 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 have been illegally detained in raids across the country “.
“The election result 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.”
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also condemned “the coup and illegal imprisonment of civilians, including Aung San Suu Kyi,” by the Myanmar army.
Capturing power
The arrest of politicians and cuts to television signals and communications services on Monday were the first signs that plans to take power were in motion. Internet and telephone access was lost in Naypyitaw. Telephone service was also reported in other parts of the country, although people were still able to use the Internet in many areas.
The Irrawaddy, an established online news service, reported that Suu Kyi, who as the state councilor is the nation’s top leader, and the country’s president, Win Myint, were arrested in the early hours of white. The news service quoted Myo Nyunt, a spokesman for the NLD.
His report said members of the party’s central executive committee, lawmakers and members of the regional cabinet had also been arrested.
A list of other people believed to have been detained, compiled by political activists demanding not to be named for security reasons, included filmmaker Min Htin Ko Ko Gyi, writer Maung Thar Cho and prominent veterans of the country’s student protest movement. of 1988, such as Ko Ko Gyi and Min Ko Naing. His arrest could not be confirmed immediately.
As news of military action spread to Yangon, the country’s largest city, there was a growing sense of unease among residents who at the start of the day had still been packed into cafes for breakfast and had been buying in the morning.
People took out the bright red flags from Suu Kyi’s party that once adorned their homes and businesses. Lines were formed at ATMs as people waited to withdraw cash, efforts that were being complicated by Internet outages. Workers at some companies decided to go home.
Monday’s parliamentary session was to be the first since last year’s election, as tension lingered over recent comments from the military that they were seen as a threat of a coup.
The 2008 constitution, drafted and implemented during the military government, has a clause that says that in the event of a national emergency, the president, in coordination with the military-dominated Defense and National Security Council, may issue a decree of emergency to hand over the government executive, legislative and judicial powers to the commander-in-chief of the military.
The clause had been described by New York-based Human Rights Watch as a “pending coup mechanism.”
It is just one of many parts of the letter that ensured that the military could maintain final control over the country at the expense of elected politicians. The military also had guaranteed 25% of seats in Parliament and control of several key ministries, especially those involved in security and defense.
Suu Kyi, 75, is by far the country’s most popular politician and became the country’s de facto leader after her party won the 2015 election, even though the constitution forbade her from being president. He had been a fierce antagonist of the army during his time 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 repression against Rohingya Muslims in the west of the country, a campaign that the U.S. and others have labeled genocide. This has left its international reputation in pieces.
It is still very popular at home, where most supported the campaign against the Rohingya. Suu Kyi’s party won 396 of 476 seats in the combined lower and upper houses of parliament in last November’s polls.
The army, known as the Tatmadaw, has accused there of mass voting fraud in the elections, although it has not provided evidence. Last week the State Trade Union Electoral Commission rejected his allegations.