Coup in Myanmar? Aung Suu Kyi, President, senior party members arrested

Aung Suu Kyi arrested

Aung Suu Kyi, other leaders detained in Myanmar, military seizes power

Aung Suu Kyi, Myanmar leader, President, party leaders arrested by soldiers

Agency Report

Myanmar leader Aung Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other leaders were arrested early today by the military, sparking fears of a coup d’etat.

“I want to tell our people not to respond rashly and I want them to act according to the law,” said Myo Nyunt, the party’s spokesman, who spoke with Reuters.

He reportedly added that 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.

An NLD lawmaker, who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation, said another of those detained was Han Thar Myint, a member of the party’s central executive committee.

Over the weekend, there were speculations the army was planning a coup, following complaints of voting fraud.

In the election held 8 November, the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party captured 396 out of 476 seats, allowing it to form a government led by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi for another five years.

The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party won only 33 seats.

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The military has publicly complained several times of electoral fraud and called on the government and the Union Election Commission to review the results.

It said it found 8.6 million irregularities in voter lists in 314 townships that could have let voters cast multiple ballots or commit other “voting malpractice.”

The election commission said there was no evidence to support the fraud claims.

Last week Wednesday, the commander-in-chief of the army, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, told senior officers in a speech Wednesday that the constitution could be revoked if the laws were not being properly enforced.

Adding to the concern was the unusual deployment of armoured vehicles in the streets of several large cities.

But on Saturday, a military spokesman denied its chief was threatening to stage a coup.

The military had ruled Myanmar for five decades, before allowing a partial democracy in 2011.

In 2015 general elections, Suu Kyi’s party, NLD won absolute majority of seats in both chambers of the national parliament, enough to ensure that its candidate would become president.

Because Suu Kyi was constitutionally barred from the presidency, she assumed the newly created role of state counsellor, a role akin to a prime minister.

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