5 February 2021
Author: Marco Bünte, Friedrich–Alexander University Erlangen–Nuremberg
In the early hours of 1 February, the day before Myanmar’s newly elected parliament was about to convene, military officers detained State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other senior National League of Democracy (NLD) leaders. Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw) Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power, made retired general Myint Swe the new president and declared a one-year state of emergency.
Why did the military end the 10-year tutelary regime that allowed it to hand over power to a civilian government while remaining in the backseat of politics, orchestrating and influencing developments from a position of strength? Why did the military, an organ that controls huge parts of the economy through lucrative military enterprises, pull the plug on this experiment?
Author: Marco Bünte, Friedrich–Alexander University Erlangen–Nuremberg
In the early hours of 1 February, the day before Myanmar’s newly elected parliament was about to convene, military officers detained State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other senior National League of Democracy (NLD) leaders. Myanmar Armed Forces (Tatmadaw) Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing seized power, made retired general Myint Swe the new president and declared a one-year state of emergency.
In the early hours of Feb 1, the day Myanmar's newly elected parliamentarians were to take their seats, the armed forces arrested senior members of the National League for Democracy (NLD), including State Counsellor and NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar President Win Myint. The military declared a state of emergency, announcing it will govern the country for one year, after which it promises fresh elections. Understanding this political crisis requires unpacking the role of the military in Myanmar's beleaguered democratisation, the calculus of Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing, and a geopolitical context dominated by China.
Myanmar lays bare challenges of army-led democratisation
Darin Self
The coup follows 12 years of a form of constrained, or bounded, democracy.
The Myanmar military (the Tatmadaw) dealt a significant blow to the prospects of democracy in the country when it staged a coup in the early morning of February 1. Just hours before a new parliament was to begin, the military detained dozens of leaders and activists from Myanmar’s largest political party, the National League for Democracy (NLD). The coup follows 12 years of a form of constrained, or bounded, democracy. In these 12 years, the NLD has dominated elections, but its relationship with the military has deteriorated.
3 February 2021
Author: Hunter Marston, ANU
In the early hours of Monday 1 February 2021, Myanmar security forces detained scores of civilian political leaders including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint as well as prominent activists and journalists. The international community was swift to condemn the military’s seizure of power, despite the late hour in Washington and European Union capitals.
How events play out in coming days will determine whether Myanmar returns to its former pariah status under military rule, or if international partners can coax the military to come to a negotiated settlement.
Myanmar’s Lower house of parliament (Pyithu Hluttaw) was preparing to convene Monday, with the upper house (Amyotha Hluttaw) to follow on Tuesday. Despite promises that the military would ‘respect the constitution’ alleviating fears that it would dispute last November’s election results the armed forces rounded up civilian leaders and potent