Myanmar’s military has taken power and declared a state of emergency after detaining civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior government officials in a series of early morning raids that followed days of escalating tension over the outcome of the November election, which the ruling party won by a landslide.
A video address broadcast on military-owned television said power had been handed to the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
Myo Nyunt, the spokesman for the governing National League for Democracy (NLD) said earlier on Monday, that Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other leaders had been “taken” in the early hours of the morning.
“I want to tell our people not to respond rashly and I want them to act according to the law,” he said.
Myanmar’s Parliament, where the military is given a quarter of seats and wields more power through its proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), was due to open in the country’s capital Naypyitaw from Monday.
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Myanmar’s military has declared a state of emergency for one year, the Xinhua news agency reported, citing the army’s statement.
ReplyDeleteAccording Reuters, the army said that the decision had been triggered by election fraud, and added that power had been handed over to Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar Armed Forces Min Aung Hlaing.
Reuters and Agence France-Presse said earlier, citing spokesman for Myamar’s ruling party National League for Democracy (NLD) Myo Nyunt, that the country’s President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, as well as other NLD leaders, had been detained.