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Myanmar’s military declared a state of emergency for one year on Monday and appointed an interim president general after the arrest of de facto government leader Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other officials of the National League for Democracy ( LND), but also from other minor parties, in a military raid organized before dawn, report to AFP and dpa, taken by Agerpres.
This decision is necessary to preserve the ‘stability’ of the state, the army announced in a statement on the army’s television station. The new interim president is Myint Swe, who served as vice president before the coup. The head of the armed forces, Min Aung Hlaing, will control the authorities, according to the Myawaddy News channel, informs EFE.
Telecommunications and Internet access continue to be severely disrupted, and the only functional communication channel is the military.
According to an AFP journalist, the military seized control of the Yangon City Hall (Myanmar’s largest city, the capital until 2006) on Monday morning. Five military trucks stormed the town hall.
The army has accused the Electoral Commission of failing to address the “huge irregularities” that it said were caused during the November legislative elections, which were won by the party of leader Aung San Suu Kyi. The military says it has identified millions of cases of fraud, including the votes of thousands of centenarians or younger, and called for voter lists to be reviewed.
The army has been denouncing irregularities in the legislative elections in November for several weeks. The party led by the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, widely criticized internationally for managing the Rohingya Muslim crisis but still supported by the majority of the population, has won the elections without appeal. Since November, obtaining 83% of the 476 mandates.
Under the guise of the COVID-19 pandemic, the elections “were neither free nor fair,” Army spokesman Zaw Min Tun said at a press conference last week.
At a press conference last Tuesday, the army spokesman did not rule out a takeover by the military to manage what he described as a political crisis.
Fears rose on Wednesday after General Min Aung Hlaing, Myanmar’s most powerful man, said that under certain circumstances the constitution could be “repealed”.
More than 12 embassies, including US and EU delegations, called on Myanmar on Friday to “adhere to democratic standards”, joining the UN in a chorus of international concern over a possible coup.
The military junta ruled the country from 1962 to 2011. In 2011, the junta was dissolved and began a period of controlled transition to democracy. The November elections were the second general elections since 2011. However, the army had control of three key ministries (Interior, Defense and Borders).
