Military Seizes Power in Myanmar, Detains Aung San Suu Kyi

Military Seizes Power in Myanmar, Detains Aung San Suu Kyi.

San Suu Kyi, the democratically elected leader in Myanmar, has been detained by the military after a bloodless coup on Monday.

The military which ended the civilian rule on Monday noted that it decision was due to the alleged fraud in the November elections that Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party won in a landslide.

The United States of America in its reaction to the development called on the Myanmar military to immediately restore power back to the people.

The NLD party spokesperson who spoke with AFP disclosed the Suu Kyi and President Win Myint were detained in the capital Naypyidaw before dawn, just hours before parliament was meant to reconvene for the first time since the elections.

It was disclosed that the military sealed off roads around the capital with armed troops, trucks and armored personnel carriers. Military helicopters flew across the city.

The military on its own television channel declared a one-year state of emergency and announced that former general Myint Swe would be acting president for the next year.

It alleged “huge irregularities” in the November polls that the election commission had failed to address.

 “As the situation must be resolved according to the law, a state of emergency is declared,” the announcement said.

The army later pledged to hold fresh elections after the year-long state of emergency.

 “We will perform real multi-party democracy with complete balance and fairness,” a statement on the army’s official Facebook page said.

Suu Kyi issued a pre-emptive statement ahead of her detention calling on people “not to accept a coup”, according to a post on the official Facebook page of her party’s chairperson.