Why is the military taking control of Myanmar and why has it detained govt leaders?

Myanmar was engulfed in chaos early on February 1 as its military took over the power announcing a one-year state of emergency with reports stating that State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other government leaders have been detained. In the run-up to the November 2020 election, Army chief Min Aung Hlaing, who has acquired the power of the nation now, had claimed that civilian government was making "unacceptable mistakes". 

Suu Kyi had even reacted to the crisis and urged the people to not be intimidated and her party, National League for Democracy (NLD) emerged victoriously. However, the military alleged that the elections were full of ‘irregularities’ and questioned the veracity of at least 9 million votes cast in November 2020 even though the country’s election commission rejected the claims of fraud. Myanmar military stressed that it will protect and abide by its constitution. 

Why has the military taken over now?

The announcement on military-owned Myawaddy TV cited Article 417 of Myanmar Consitution’s that allows the army to take over during the times of emergency. The moderator also said that the COVID-19 pandemic along with civilian government’s failure to postpone the November general elections was the reason for emergency. It was the military that drafted the constitution in 2008 and retains the power under the charter at the expense of democratic rule. 

However, Human Rights Watch has described the clause as “coup mechanism in waiting”. The Southeast Asian nation’s constitution also reserves key cabinet members and 25% of the seats in Myanmar parliament for the military. With such presence, it limits the civilian government’s power while ruling out amending the charter without the military support. Meanwhile, some experts even expressed bafflement as to why the military would upset their status quo but others noted the looming retirement of Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, commander since 2011.

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“There’s internal military politics around that, which is very opaque,” said Kim Jolliffe, a researcher on Myanmar civilian and military relations as per AP report. “This might be reflecting those dynamics and might be somewhat of a coup internally and his way of maintaining power within the military.”

While Suu Kyi’s party won the November elections and bagged 396 out of 476 seats in the combined lower and upper houses of Parliament, the military refused to accept the results and cited ‘irregularities’ in 314 townships that could have let voters cast multiple ballots or commit “voting malpractice”. However, the country’s Myanmar’s election commission has confirmed the victory and rejected the army’s claims that were floated without any proof. 

Now, the Myanmar military has informed that general elections will be held after a one-year state of emergency declared earlier in the day. The military said that during the emergency period, the Union Election Commission will be reformed and the parliamentary elections held in November 2020 will be reviewed, ANI reported quoting Xinhua. It is worth noting that the state power in Myanmar has been handed over to Commander-in-Chief of Defence Services Min Aung Hlaing, while the nation’s first Vice President Myint Swe will be serving as the acting president of the country. 

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