In breaking international news today, the elected leader of Myanmar (which you may know as Burma), political leader Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested by the military. This is yet another development in the country’s ongoing struggle for democracy out of military rule. It’s the beginning of a military coup in Myanmar.
If you’re just coming to this story with today’s news, that’s totally okay – here’s you need to get up to speed. about what international experts are calling
The Background Context
Internal political conflict, violence and civil war has always been a part of Myanmar’s history. The past 30 years has been a battle between two major parties: the military-led Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) and the civilian-led National League for Democracy (NLD). The context for the past few days hinges on two key time periods:
1962 – 2011
The country’s military dictatorship first took power in 1962. While this dictatorship was overthrown in 1988, it was replaced by a government system still controlled by military representatives. NLD was at this time by Aung San Suu Kyi, as part of the country’s political revolution. However, she was soon arrested by the military government and spent a total of 15 years imprisoned between 1989 and 2010.
Even as the people of Myanmar pushed for democracy, the USDP military ‘party’ consistently interfered with elections to maintain power. This hold only began to ease under President Thein Sein from 2011, whose government reforms opened the door to more free elections.
2015 – 2020
In 2015, Myanmar held its most democratic election to date – independently assessed as delivering a result that reflected the will of the people. It was a landslide win for the National League of Democracy, the major non-military party led by Aung San Suu Kyi.
The election results gave the NLD an absolute majority in both the lower and upper houses of government. Aung San Suu Kyi became the State Chancellor (similar to a Prime Minister). In 2018, NLD member Win Myint becomes the President of Myanmar.
While it’s a big milestone and the NLD is able to rule, Myanmar is still not a true democracy. The military-backed USDP is allowed to appoint 25% of the seats in Parliament (unelected) and has the power to veto any constitutional change.
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Myanmar’s 2020 Election
The NLD also won Myanmar’s most recent election in 2020, in results that were again confirmed as credible. The party took 83% of the available seats in a clear indication of the public’s demand for democratic government.
However, the military USDP claimed the election was fraudulent, and threatened to “take action” if the results were not investigated and overturned. Sound familiar?
Aung San Suu Kyi Arrest & Military Coup
Which brings us to the present. In the early hours of the morning on January 30, the NLD report that Aung San Suu Kyi, Win Myint and other senior figures had been arrested by the military.
Soon after, the military declared a state of emergency to last until 2022 and handed all powers over to it’s chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing. Myanmar is now under the control of a military coup.
Protests in support of both sides have been ongoing for at least a week. Australia has joined a list of countries urging the Myanmar military to respect the outcome of the election. But what will happen next is unclear.
Where does the genocide of Rohingya Muslims sit in all this?
None of this even touches Myanmar’s ongoing human rights abuses against the Rohingya Muslims. The Government has denied this group citizenship and has allowed exploitation and attacks against them to continue unchecked.
The NLD is guilty of this, and despite her immense role in helping to ‘free’ Myanmar, Aung San Suu Kyi has recently faced global criticism for her refusal to help the Rohingya people (including calls for her to be stripped of her 1991 Nobel Peace Prize).
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