MILITARY COUP IN MYANMAR
The UN Security Council has condemned the military coup in the Southeast Asian country, Myanmar.
Myanmar’s military launched the coup in the early hours on Monday, 1 February, 2021 and detained State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint and other leaders of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party.
Military announced a state of emergency and declared to take action against the alleged election fraud during the general election held last November.
Internet and communications were severely restricted across the country. All banking institutions closed. International broadcasting was also blocked by the military.
Military announced the appointment of Myint Swe, a former General and the current Vice President as acting President and declared that “free and fair multiparty general elections” in the country.
History repeats in this south east asian nation, keeping the country once again into the direct hands of mighty military rule crippling a decade long experiment with democracy.
It was in 1988, National League for Democracy (NLD) was founded by Aung San Suu Kyi and others, but in 1989 Military junta declared martial law and imprisoned Aung Suu Kyi at home in the outskirts of the commercial capital town Yangon.
In the 1990 elections, the National League of Democracy won victory but the military refused to accept the poll results and the Nobel Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi had to serve a total of 15 years under house arrest.
After a series of struggles, NLD secured landslide victory in the first general election held in 2015 and Aung Suu Kyi took the role of state counsellor, a de facto leadership as she was barred from taking the presidency after the elections.
But many retaliations were launched by the military and Myanmer witnessed many human rights violations including genocide and intense violence in the country.
Lakhs of Rohingyans fleed from the country but Aang Suu Kyi has been seen as a silent spectactor all the time and refuses to blame any specific group for unleashing violence and genocide in the country.
In 2020 International Court of Justice ordered Myanmar to take immediate steps to prevent violence and genocide.
In November 2020, Myanmar held its second democratic elections and NLD could win eighty per cent parliamentary seats. But the military backed opposition party, Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) accused of fraud in the elections and it was on last Monday, the opening of the Parliament had to take place.
The military now justifies the action citing a section in the constitution it drafted that allows it to take control in times of national emergency.
It was a ploy to topple democracy but people’s faith in democracy needs to be supported by the whole world to establish peace and democracy in this country. World leaders along with a UN plan and with immediate sanctions can only save this nation from military rule.
Meanwhile, the United States has announced sanctions against 10 individuals responsible for the military coup and series of export restrictions on sensitive items to the Ministry of Defense, home affairs and armed forces in Myanmar.
Protests on the streets of Myanmar were mostly peaceful but many people were injured when police fired rubber bullets to disperse the protesters. Protesters shouted slogans against Russia and China for supporting the military actions in Myanmar.
Several members of the former Union Election Commission (UEC), responsible for the last November elections were arrested alleging “election fraud”.
China and Russia called the Myanmar situation its internal issue in the special session of the UNHRC.
Myanmar or Burma, now officially known as the Republic of the Union of Myanmar is the largest country in Mainland Southeast Asia and tenth largest in Asia by area.
The population was about 54 million in 2017 and its capital city is Naypyidaw. The largest city is Yangon (Rangoon).