Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar’s civilian government, urged people across the country to revolt and oppose a military takeover with the military taking control of the country on Monday.
Suu Kyi and other leading officials were previously detained, the day before lawmakers elected in November were due to start a new term.
“I urge people not to accept this, to respond and to protest wholeheartedly against the coup by the military,” said a statement that bore Suu Kyi’s name but not her signature. “Only the people are important.”
A handwritten note at the bottom of the statement posted to Facebook by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, or NLD, said it was written before Monday in anticipation of the military’s takeover of power.
The NLD won 83 percent of the vote in the November election, and the country’s electoral committee has rejected allegations of inappropriateness. The army has declared a state of emergency for a year and says it will hold elections afterwards.
Military leader Min Aung-Hliang will now lead the government, according to Myawaddy TV, which is controlled by the military. The military said it had taken control of the country in response to “election fraud.”
The United States Department of State confirmed local reports that some internet connections had been lost, while the US embassy in the capital Yangon, said on Twitter the road to the city’s main airport was closed.
Troops and riot police lined up in Yangon, where residents rushed to markets to stock up on supplies, while others lined up at ATMs to withdraw cash.
34-year-old restaurateur Koki Nakajima from Yangon told NBC News that he saw Burmese army supporters celebrate the coup on flat trucks in the city, playing loud music.
The military, which drafted Myanmar’s constitution in 2008, takes 25 percent of the country’s parliamentary seats and controls the ministries of Defense, Internal Affairs and Borders.
The televised military-owned announcement quoted the country’s constitution, allowing the military to take over in times of need. The announcer said the coronavirus crisis and the government’s failure to postpone the elections were reasons for the emergency.
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The military drafted the constitution in 2008 and retains power under the charter at the expense of democratic, bourgeois rule. New York-based international campaigner Human Rights Watch has described the clause as a “ pending coup ” mechanism.
The takeover was quickly condemned outside the country. The US, United Kingdom, European Union, Australia and Singapore all called for the release of Suu Kyi.
“The United States is behind the people of Burma in their pursuit of democracy, freedom, peace and development,” said Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who used the country’s name until it was changed by the ruling military junta in 1989.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed “grave concern at the declaration of the transfer of all legislative, executive and judicial powers to the military”.
On Monday, pro-Suu Kyi protests took place in Bangkok, Thailand, where protesters have waged a long campaign against military influence in Thai society.
Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch, called the military’s justification for the takeover a “made-up excuse.”
“Our worst nightmare has come true,” he said.
Suu Kyi, 75, Nobel Peace Prize winner, won a landslide election victory in 2015 after 15 years of house arrest.
Her reputation was tarnished after hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fled persecution by the military in 2017, but she remains popular at home.
Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a human rights activist in Yangon, called what happened a repeat of history related to the NLD’s 1990 landslide elections.
“The military has used the same tactic when they disagree with the outcome of an election,” she said.
“We are concerned about how long this coup will take place,” she added. “It took decades before they did it in 1962.”
Patrick Smith reported from London, Rhea Mogul reported from Hong Kong.
Reuters contributed to this article.
Dawn Liu and Eric Baculinao contributed.