The army in Myanmar has taken over the country after staging a coup, and Aung San Suu Kyi, the State Counsellor has been detained along with several other government officials.
According to the statement issued by the army, the country is under the power of the Commander-in-Chief, and a state of emergency has been declared for one year.
This incident has occurred after ongoing conflicts between the military of the country and the civilian government over alleged election fraud, took a turn for the worse.
In 2015, Suu Kyi had won the elections and became the State Counselor. She could not be elected as President since the constitution devised by the military did not allow her to do so.
Even though she introduced several democratic reforms and a quasi-civilian government was appointed, the military of the country was not ready to give up its power.
According to the military-drafted constitution, the military holds a quarter of seats in parliament and also has significant control over defense and home affairs ministries. They can also veto any alterations to the constitution.
There have been allegations against the military of Myanmar for carrying out mass genocide of Rohingya Muslims. However, Suu Kyi had supported the military and rejected any claims, and stated that the allegations were only misinformation.
The International Court of Justice has launched an investigation into the charges. She has faced immense international criticism for not condemning the Rohingya genocide.
In Myanmar’s parliamentary elections, the military-supported Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) did not yield great results and immediately claimed voter fraud.
The military demanded that the Election Commission release the final polling data while making unsubstantiated claims that there were more than 10.5 million cases of voter fraud. A military spokesperson also threatened to take action if their demands were not met.
The military leader has publicly addressed the nation on TV saying that Suu Kyi and other government officials were detained because they did not comply with their demands to investigate election results. The Commander-in-Chief, who is now in power, will be launching an investigation into voter fraud.
The military has defended its right to stage a coup, saying that according to the constitution, the Commander-in-Chief is authorized to take control of the country if there is a state of emergency.
The Commander-in-Chief has stated that elections will be held again, once the investigations conclude.
