The Globe and Mail John Packer Published February 6, 2021 Turns out the “democratization” of the Union of Myanmar was a charade at best. Having already written its constitution to suit itself in 2008, the Tatmadaw (as the Armed Forces are known) ripped it up on Feb. 1. In a swift, telegraphed and thus-far bloodless coup, Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing declared himself “state leader,” installed a dozen cronies as ministers, and appointed a retired lieutenant-general as his puppet President. In doing so, the Tatmadaw issued a formal statement asserting that they were acting to preserve “democratic norms,” but arresting the entire civilian government, the sitting President, leading MPs and representatives of civil society sure is a funny way of showing it.