Myanmar’s military seizes power and arrests the country’s elected leader, Suu Kyi

Myanmar’s military seized power on Monday in a coup against the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, who was arrested along with other leaders of the National League for Democracy in raids in the early hours of the morning.

The army announced in a statement on its television channel that it carried out arrests in response to “electoral fraud”, handing over power to army chief Min Aung Hlaing and imposing a state of emergency for a year.

An army spokesman did not return phone calls for comment.

Telephone lines were disrupted to the capital Naypyidaw and the main city of Yangon, and state television broadcasts were cut hours before the scheduled date for parliament for the first time since the elections in which the National League party Led by Suu Kyi, it won a landslide victory in November. .

The elections are seen as a referendum on the nascent democratic government of Suu Kyi.

Party spokesman Myo Nyunt told Reuters by phone that Suu Kyi, Myanmar President Win Myint and other leaders were “arrested” in the early hours of the morning.

“I would like to inform our people not to respond to this recklessly, and I would like them (the citizens) to act in accordance with the law,” the spokesperson added, adding that he hopes that he too will be arrested.

A witness said the army had deployed soldiers in front of the Yangon headquarters, the city’s main city hall.

The arrests came days after heightened tension between the civilian government and the army sparked fears of a coup.

The White House said that President Joe Biden had reported Suu Kyi’s arrest.

“The United States opposes any attempt to change the outcome of the recent elections or impede the democratic transition in Myanmar, and will take action against those responsible if these steps are not reversed,” said White House spokeswoman Jane Saki in a statement.

Suu Kyi, 75, came to power after a landslide victory in the 2015 elections after being under house arrest for decades, in a fight for democracy that made her an international icon.

But its global position was damaged after hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled military operations in Rakhine province in the west of the country in 2017.

Despite this, Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, is still very popular in the country.