By Andrew Joseph Moore
The western portion of mainland Southeast Asia, Myanmar, also known as Burma, became the highlight of international news on February 1, 2021 when the military formally known as the Tatmadaw carried out a coup d’etat after declaring a democratic election conducted in November illegitimate.
Looking back to the election in November of 2020, the military-backed candidates, also known as the Union Solidarity and Development Party, did exceptionally poorly. In contrast, the civilian party, the National League for Democracy, won in a landslide in all government seats. Now, the reason why the military decided to call the results illegitimate now is that this was the week in which the new government would take control, and the election would be certified. However, with this military coup, this is not going to happen, and leaders of the National League for Democracy party, including the current President of Burma Win Myint and elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, have been arrested.
As of right now, a Burmese army general Min Aung Hlaing is currently in charge of Burma. To paraphrase his defense of the actions taking place, Jonathan Head, a Southeast Asia correspondent for the BBC, explained that the general is essentially saying, “the electoral commission had failed to investigate irregularities over voter lists in the November election and had not allowed fair campaigning.” However, no evidence of significant fraud has been presented as Head quotes in his article.
In contrast, the military has brought ten million examples of irregularities on the voter list; the nation’s election commission, independent observers, and the U.S.-based Carter Center that had forty observers visiting polling stations disagree with those claims.
Leaders from around the world were quick to call out the military’s actions. President Joe Biden released a statement on February 1 in which he stated, “The military’s seizure of power in Burma, the detention of Aung San Suu Kyi and other civilian officials, and the declaration of a national state of emergency are a direct assault on the country’s transition to democracy and the
rule of law… For almost a decade, the people of Burma have been steadily working to establish elections, civilian governance, and the peaceful transfer of power. That progress should be respected…”
President Biden has also threatened to reimpose sanctions unless the civilians are released, democracy respected, and telecommunications reopened. The British have even gotten involved with Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeting, “I condemn the coup and unlawful imprisonment of civilians, including Aung San Suu Kyi, in Myanmar. The vote of the people must be respected and civilian leaders released.”
Looking at the future, it is unclear what will happen. However, one thing is sure that fear will continue to spread throughout the country, as this coup has reminded many of the oppressive military regimes that ended only a mere ten years ago in 2011. Even with those fears, most likely, Burma’s citizens will not sit quietly and watch what happens, as massive protests have already been conducted and are continuing today with no end in sight.
