The Southeast Asian country of Myanmar endured a series of strict military regimes for almost 50 years, finally moving towards democratic rule a decade ago, in 2011. On Monday, the military has re-seized power in the country by staging a coup, putting Myanmar at risk of slipping back under complete military control.
Here’s all you need to know about the coup in Myanmar.
Myanmar’s military seized control of the country early on Monday morning, throwing the country into a state of chaos and confusion. The military detained Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s very popular and former Nobel Peace Prize-winning leader, as well as many top members of her party, the National League for Democracy. Those arrested are suspected to be held under house arrest.
This coup happened just as Myanmar’s Parliament was about to convene and form a new government based on the results of a national election in November.
The military hotly contested the results of this election, when military party members did poorly.
Aaron Connelly of the International Institute for Strategic Studies in Singapore told NPR earlier today of the military’s claims of election fraud “about a week ago, the military started to make threats that if the civilian government didn’t take its issues with the election in November, for which it provided no evidence, more seriously, then it would consider taking power. It seemed to step back from that threat on a couple of occasions, and then on Monday morning, it arrested key civilian leaders. But it was really only a week ago that most people in Myanmar, and most Myanmar specialists overseas, started to believe that the military was serious about taking back power.”
A parliament session had been originally scheduled for Monday but was delayed a day because of rumors of a coup attempt.
The military, called the Tatmadaw, took to national television to announce the country will remain in a state of emergency and under full military power until a new leader is elected and put into power one year from now. In the meantime, it has placed the Commander in Chief Min Aung Hlaing as the country’s leader.
The National League for Democracy, or NLD, demanded Suu Kyi’s immediate release earlier today, and called on the military to accept the results of the November election, which saw the NLD win more than 80% of the votes.
Connelly said he remains skeptical of the military’s claims: “They claim that there were irregularities with voter lists in the election, particularly in ethnic areas, and that if the election voter lists were scrutinized more closely, then they would have had a chance at winning more seats in the national legislature.”
The coup was largely condemned on the international stage. U.S. President Joe Biden said in a press release earlier today that the military’s actions will “necessitate an immediate review of our sanction laws and authorities, followed by appropriate action”and that “the United States will stand up for democracy wherever it is under attack.”
In a statement attributed to Suu Kyi, the NLD urged the people of Myanmar to take to the streets and “wholeheartedly protest” against the coup.
Even though the military says that it will only stay in power for a year, analysts say it remains unclear if the people of Myanmar will cooperate with a new, quasi-democratic system.
“[The military] believes that if it removes Aung San Suu Kyi from politics, that it can begin to win elections again, but it’s not really clear if that’s the case, and it’s not clear that people will cooperate and participate in a semi-democratic system that excludes Aung San Suu Kyi or the NLD from democracy,” Connelly said.