Asia-Pacific

Suu Kyi and other Myanmar figures ‘taken’ in military raids

Move comes after the country’s powerful military raised the spectre of staging a coup

Myanmar’s powerful military has demanded an investigation into alleged voter fraud during last year’s election, which was swept by Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling party. Photograph: Yves Herman/File Photo/Reuters

Mon Feb 1 2021 - 00:31

Aung San Suu Kyi, Myanmar’s president, and other senior ruling party figures have been detained by the military in an early morning raid, a party spokesman said on Monday.

Spokesman Myo Nyunt told Reuters that Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other leaders had been “taken” early in the morning. “I want to tell our people not to respond rashly and I want them to act according to the law,” he said, adding he also expected to be detained.

Phone lines to Naypyitaw, the capital, were not reachable in the early hours of Monday. A military spokesman did not answer phone calls seeking comment.

The move comes after the country’s powerful military raised the spectre of staging a coup as it ramped up demands for an investigation into alleged voter fraud during last year’s election, which was swept by Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling party.

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The National League for Democracy (NLD) won November’s poll in a landslide, but has been much criticised by rights groups for its disenfranchisement of voters in conflict-wracked regions.

Irregularities

The military-aligned opposition disputed the results, while the army has for weeks alleged widespread voter irregularities, claiming to have found 8.6m cases of fraud.

Last week military spokesman Major General Zaw Min Tun said that military chief Min Aung Hlaing – arguably Myanmar’s most powerful individual – had already pointed out “dishonesty and unfairness” during the election.

When pressed on the possibility of a coup, the spokesman refused to be drawn, but did not rule it out.

“We do not say the Tatmadaw will take power. We do not say it will not as well,” said the spokesman, using the Burmese name for the military.

The polls in November were the second openly contested elections since Myanmar emerged in 2011 after nearly 50 years of junta rule.

But the military still holds an outsized role in the country’s politics, retaining control over key ministries thanks to a junta-scripted constitution which dictates an uneasy power-sharing agreement with de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi. – Guardian, Reuters

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