Myanmar Army seizes power, imposes 1 year emergency, president arrested

Myanmar's military seized power on Monday in a coup against the democratically elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was detained along with other leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party in early morning raids. The army stated that it had carried out the detentions in response to "election fraud", handing power to military chief Min Aung Hlaing and imposing a state of emergency for one year, according to a statement on a military-owned television station.

Phone lines to the capital Naypyitaw and the main commercial center of Yangon were not reachable, and state TV went off air hours before parliament had been due to sit for the first time since the NLD's landslide election win in November, viewed as a referendum on Suu Kyi's rising democratic government. Soldiers took up positions at city hall in Yangon and mobile internet data and phone services in the NLD stronghold were disrupted, residents said. Internet connectivity had also fallen dramatically,

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Suu Kyi, Myanmar President Win Myint, and other NLD leaders had been arrested in the early hours of the morning, NLD spokesman Myo Nyunt told Reuters by phone." I want to tell our people not to respond rashly and I want them to act according to the law," he said, adding that he expected to be arrested himself. The detentions came after days of escalating tension between the civilian government and the military that stirred fears of a coup in the aftermath of the election.

The White House said President Joe Biden had been briefed on the arrest of Suu Kyi. "The United States opposes any attempt to alter the outcome of recent elections or impede Myanmar's democratic transition and will take action against those responsible if these steps are not reversed," spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.

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The Australian government said it was "deeply concerned at reports the Myanmar military is once again seeking to seize control of Myanmar" and called for the immediate release of the unlawfully detained leaders. Japan said it was watching the situation and currently had no plans to repatriate Japanese nationals from Myanmar.

The declaration signed by First Vice President U Myint Swe, who is serving as the acting president, was announced on the military-owned Myawady TV, Xinhua reported. The state power will be handed over to Commander-in-Chief of Defense Services Min Aung Hlaing, the statement said. According to certain defense sources, China's CCP might be behind the coup.