Military stages coup in Myanmar; Suu Kyi, Political leaders detained

Reports said Myanmar military has taken control of the country for one year after the country’s governing National League for Democracy (NLD) said that leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior figures were detained on Monday.

The development comes after reports of a coup amid growing tension between the civilian government and the military.

Online news portal Myanmar Now cited unidentified sources about the arrest of Ms Suu Kyi and the NLD’s chairperson around dawn and did not have further details. Myanmar Visual Television and Myanmar Voice Radio posted on Facebook around 6.30 a.m. that their programs were not available to broadcast regularly.

Reports said internet connections in the country were disrupted with phone lines to capital Naypyitaw not working. The military has reportedly been deployed outside city hall in the main city of Yangon.

Myanmar’s military had said earlier that it abide by the constitution and act according to the law of the country.

The NLD had swept the polls in November which was the second democratic elections in Myanmar, however, the military claimed there was widespread vote fraud.

Amid the bickering over the allegations, the military last Tuesday ramped up political tension when a spokesperson at its weekly news conference, responding to a reporter’s question, declined to rule out the possibility of a coup.

Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun elaborated by saying the military would “follow the laws in accordance with the constitution.” Using similar language, Commander-in-Chief Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing told senior officers in a speech on Wednesday that the constitution could be revoked if the laws were not being properly enforced. Adding to the concern was the unusual deployment of armoured vehicles in the streets of several large cities.

Myanmar has seen two previous coups in 1962 and 1988 since its independence from Britain in 1948.