Aung San Suu Kyi detained as military takes control of Myanmar

NLD spokesman Myo Nyunt told Reuters on Monday that 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.

Military juntas had ruled Myanmar for more than five decades prior to a referendum in 2008. The new constitution saw elections carried out in 2010 at the same time as it guaranteed the military at least 25 per cent of seats, entrenching its power in Myamar’s legislature. Last week, after the election commission ruled against the military, negotiations between the armed forces and the NLD broke down.

The military had demanded more power after the November election had wiped out almost all of its popular vote. Suu Kyi expanded her vote at the poll despite persistent criticism of her handling of a stagnant economy and inefficient civil service. She has also drawn international condemnation for her defence of the miiltary’s actions against the Rohingya muslim minority in Rakhine state.

“The truth is the military was overconfident about its ability to win election under this constitution. [The election] was embarrassing, it was humiliating,” said Aaron Connelly, a south-east asia expert from The International Institute for Strategic Studies.

“I genuinely think they believed the would be a competitive political party. When they realised there was no returning to military men I suspect that it was a major factor in their decision to blow it up.”

The constitution also included a provision for the President to transfer legislative, executive and judicial powers to the commander in chief of the defence services in a state of emergency.

“They arrested the President so that their ally the Vice-President could be come acting-President and issue the declaration,” said Connelly. “They are circumventing their own constitution.”

The miliary takeover drew condemnation from around the world on Monday. In Washington, the White House warned it “will take action against those responsible if these steps are not reversed”.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “strongly condemned” the detention of Suu Kyi and the other political leaders, a UN spokesman said. The Australian government called on the military to release immediately all civilian leaders and others who have been detained unlawfully.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the developments were “disturbing”. “We all hope for Myanmar, we all hope for what I know the Myanmar people want to achieve,” he said.

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Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Penny Wong said Labor condemned “the detention of numerous political and civil society figures in Myanmar”.

“This is a direct attack on Myanmar’s ongoing democratic transition,” she said. “We look to the Australian government to make clear our expectations that democratic norms are respected and strengthened.”

John Sifton, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, said Myanmar’s military had never submitted to civilian rule and called on the United States and other countries to impose “strict and directed economic sanctions” on the military leadership and its economic interests.

With Reuters