JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) – Myanmar’s military has staged a coup, detained leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior politicians, and took control of the country under a one-year state of emergency. Here are some possible reasons why the military has now taken over:
THE CONSTITUTION
The announcement on Army-owned Myawaddy TV quoted Article 417 of the country’s constitution, which allows the military to take over in times of need. The announcer said the coronavirus crisis and the failure to postpone the November elections during the pandemic were reasons for the emergency.
The military drafted the constitution in 2008 and retains power under the charter at the expense of democratic, bourgeois rule. Human Rights Watch has described the clause as a “pending coup” mechanism.
The constitution also reserves key cabinet ministries and 25% of parliamentary seats for the military, a portion that limits the power of a civilian government and precludes charter amendment without military support.
Some experts were puzzled as to why the military would disrupt its powerful status quo, but others noted that Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, who has been commander of the armed forces since 2011, is about to retire.
“There is internal military policy around it, which is very opaque,” said Kim Jolliffe, a civil and military relations researcher in Myanmar. “This may reflect that dynamic and could be some sort of internal coup and its way of maintaining power within the military.”
The military has headed Vice President Myint Swe, a former military officer best known to the international community for his crackdown on the 2007 monk-led popular protests known abroad as the Saffron Revolution for a year. appointed by the government.
Immediately after being named president, Myint Swe handed over power to the country’s highest-ranking military commander, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.
THE ELECTIONS
In the November elections, Suu Kyi’s party captured 396 of the 476 seats in the combined lower and upper chambers of parliament. The election commission of the state union has confirmed that result.
But the military has recently claimed that there were millions of voter irregularities in 314 townships that allowed voters to cast multiple votes or commit other “malpractices in voting.”
“But they haven’t really proved it,” Jolliffe said.
The election commission rejected the claims last week, stating there was no evidence to support them.
The military takeover took place on the first day of the new parliament after the elections.
Instead, Suu Kyi and other lawmakers alleged to have been sworn in were detained.
A later announcement on Myawaddy TV said the military would hold elections after the year-long emergency has ended and hand over power to the winner.
WHAT HAPPENS NOW
Telecommunications came to a halt early in the morning and early afternoon. Internet and telephone access appeared to be blocked in the capital. Many people elsewhere in the country who still had Internet access found their social media accounts had been temporarily suspended.
Barbed wire roadblocks were constructed in Yangon, the largest city, and military units began to appear outside government buildings such as City Hall.
Residents flocked to ATMs and food vendors, while some shops and homes removed the symbols of Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy, that typically adorn the city’s streets and walls.
WHAT HAPPENS NOW
Governments and international organizations condemned the takeover, saying it is slowing down the limited democratic reforms Myanmar has implemented.
“This is an extremely devastating blow to efforts to present Myanmar as a democracy,” said Linda Lakhdhir, legal counsel at Human Rights Watch. “His credibility on the world stage has taken a massive blow.”
Watchdogs fear further repression against human rights defenders, journalists and others who criticize the military. Even before the current military takeover, journalists, freedom of speech advocates and military critics often faced legal action for publicly criticizing it.
A US senator pointed out the possibility that the United States could reimpose economic sanctions, which the US lifted when Myanmar transitioned to civilian government.
Myanmar’s military leaders “must immediately free Myanmar’s democratic leaders and remove themselves from government,” said Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, the new chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. If not, the United States and other countries must impose strict economic sanctions as well as other measures against the military and military leaders, he said.
Former US diplomat Bill Richardson said the Biden administration and other governments must act quickly to impose sanctions. He also questioned Suu Kyi’s ability to lead, given her defense of the military’s actions against ethnic Rohingya Muslims.
“Because Suu Kyi does not promote democratic values as the de facto leader of Myanmar, she must step aside and let other democratic leaders in Myanmar take the reins with international backing and support,” Richardson said in a statement.