The declaration of the detention of Suu Kyi follows days of concern about the possibility of a military coup. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken expresses “grave concern and alarm” about the detentions that have been published. Phone and internet connectivity to Naypyitaw was lost; telephone service was registered in other parts of the country. The acts of the military have already received widespread international criticism. The acquisition is a dramatic reversal of the partial but important progress made in recent years towards Myanmar’s democracy following five decades of the military regime and international sanctions that originated in 1962.
The new session of the country’s Parliament was to begin the morning that the takeover was announced. The first signs that plans to seize power were in motion were the detention of politicians and cuts in television signals and communication services.
In the pre-dawn hours, Suu Kyi and the country’s president, Win Myint, were detained. Members of the Central Executive Committee of the Party, legislators and regional members of the Cabinet have also been taken into custody. A list of other individuals thought to have been detained, compiled by political activists, could not be confirmed immediately.
The parliamentary session on Monday was meant to be the first since last year’s election. However, the military maintains that its actions are legally justified, although many say that it is actually a coup. A clause in the 2008 constitution ensured that, at the expense of elected politicians, the military could maintain ultimate control over the country. The clause was described by Human Rights Watch as a “coup mechanism in waiting.”
Source CNN, CTV
