Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior figures from the ruling party have been detained in an early morning military raid, the spokesman for the governing National League for Democracy said on Monday.
The move comes after days of escalating tension between the civilian government and the powerful military that stirred fears of a coup in the aftermath of an election the army says was fraudulent.
Spokesman Myo Nyunt told Reuters by phone 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, adding he also expected to be detained.
Myanmar’s military on Saturday vowed to abide by the country’s constitution, in an apparent backtracking after its commander-in-chief spurred fears of a coup when he suggested the charter could be repealed.
The army has for weeks alleged widespread irregularities in November’s election, won in a landslide by Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling National League for Democracy (NLD).
Tensions were ramped up last Tuesday when a military spokesman refused to rule out the possibility of a coup.
A day later, army chief General Min Aung Hlaing – arguably the most powerful person in Myanmar – said revoking the 2008 junta-scripted constitution could be “necessary” under certain circumstances.
His comments – translated into English and published in the army-run Myawady newspaper – sent shockwaves through the nascent democracy, which is only a decade out of the grips of a 49-year military dictatorship.
On Saturday the army released a statement claiming its commander-in-chief had been misunderstood, though the statement did not directly address fears of an imminent coup.
“Some organisations and media defined the speech of the Commander-in-Chief as they liked… without respecting the full text of the speech,” said an English translation of the statement.
“The Tatmadaw is abiding by the constitution… (and) will perform its tasks within the frame of enacted law while safeguarding it,” it added, referring to the army by its official Burmese name.
The last time the country saw its constitution revoked was in 1988, when the military reinstated a junta after a popular uprising.
More to come.
