Myanmar's military has seized power in a coup and imprisoned the State Counsellor of Myanmar and Nobel Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi. The position of State Counsellor is roughly equivalent to that of a president or prime minister.
The military had previously controlled Myanmar, sometimes referred to as Burma, from 1962 to 2011 and the coup now brings to an end 9 years of semi-democratic rule during which Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy held power. During this time, the military maintained a high-profile presence in Myanmar society.
The coup, which occurred in the early hours of Monday, involved not only the detention of Suu Kyi but also other leaders of the National League for Democracy. The military then stated that several ministers had been removed and replaced, and that a year-long 'state of emergency' will be put in place, meaning that political opponents may be arrested, and that democracy will be suspended. A night-time curfew will be overseen by military forces patrolling the streets.
There have not been any reports of widespread violence since the coup was announced, though small groups have been seen on the streets of Rangoon, Myanmar's capital. Speaking to the BBC, one 25-year-old said:
"Waking up to learn your world has been completely turned upside down overnight was not a new feeling, but a feeling that I thought that we had moved on from, and one that I never thought we'd be forced to feel again."
Leadership of the military, and now the country, is now in the hands of military commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing.
The coup comes weeks after a disputed election in which Suu Kyi's party defeated the military-backed opposition party. The military has claimed widespread fraud had occurred and that the vote was illegitimate. Official results show that The National League for Democracy won over 70% of the popular vote.
Aung Sang Suu Kyi previously spent 15 years under house arrest during the years 1989 to 2010. She was a long-time campaigner for democracy in Myanmar and human-rights. Her reputation however has been severely harmed in recent years, particularly within the international community, due to the military action taken by Myanmar against the Muslim Rohingya population who live in the north of the country. There have been widespread reports of ethnic cleansing, mass-killings and the burning of Rohingya villages, and over 2 million have been forced to flee to neighbouring Bangladesh to escape persecution.
Suu Kyi has continually denied that these crimes are taking place within her country.
h/t: BBC
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