Myanmar power grab – what we know so far

Up in arms: Myanmar migrants holding up a poster with the image of Myanmar’s Chief Senior General Min Aung Hlaing during a demonstration against the military coup in Myanmar outside the Myanmar embassy in Bangkok. — AFP

Yangon: The military’s seizure of power follows weeks of tensions with civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her government.

Suu Kyi and other civilian leaders were taken into custody by soldiers yesterday as the first new parliamentary session was due to be held.

Here’s what we know so far:

How did the crisis begin? Suu Kyi remains an immensely popular figure in Myanmar despite her international reputation being deeply tarnished over a crackdown on the Rohingya minority in 2017.

Her National League for Democracy (NLD) party swept last year’s polls in a landslide, winning by an even greater margin than the 2015 vote. But the country’s military, which has ruled the country for most of the last 60 years, says the vote was plagued by irregularities.

It claims to have uncovered more than 10 million instances of voter fraud and has demanded the election commission release voter lists for cross-checking.

Tensions grew after General Min Aung Hlaing gave a speech warning that the country’s constitution could be “revoked” if it is not respected.

Last week tanks were also briefly deployed to the streets of Yangon, Naypyidaw and elsewhere, along with protests against the election result by pro-military supporters.

What happens next? The army has declared a state of emergency and says it will take power for 12 months.

Myint Swe, a former general who ran the powerful Yangon military command and the current vice-president of Myanmar, will become acting president for the next year.

In a statement read out on military-run Myawaddy TV and signed by Myint Swe, he said control of “legislation, administration and judiciary” had been handed over to Min Aung Hlaing – effectively returning Myanmar to military rule.

Has this happened before? Myanmar has been ruled by military regimes for most of its history since independence from former colonial power Britain in 1948.

Junta leader General Than Shwe stepped down in 2011, handing over power to a government of retired generals after adopting the country’s current constitution.

Will the constitution stand? The 2008 constitution carves out a powerful ongoing political role for the military, giving it control of the key interior, border and defence ministries.

Any changes need the support of military lawmakers.

Its guarantee of military power makes the constitution a “deeply unpopular” document, according to Yangon-based political analyst Khin Zaw Win.

Suu Kyi and her government have been trying to amend the charter since winning the 2015 election, with little success. — AFP