Prime Minister Aung San Suu Kyi arrested by the military
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Aung San Suu Kyi (archive image)
Credit: AFP / LILLIAN SUWANRUMPHA
For days there have been rumors of a possible impending military coup in Myanmar. Now the former freedom icon and de facto head of government Aung San Suu Kyi has been arrested.
M.yanmar’s de facto head of government Aung San Suu Kyi and other high-ranking politicians in the country have been arrested by the military, according to their party.
This happened on Monday night (local time), as a spokesman for the ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), told the German Press Agency. This was preceded by tensions between the civilian government and the powerful military over allegations of electoral fraud in the November general election.
There have been rumors of a possible upcoming military coup for days. The party spokesman himself said he was also expecting his arrest by security officials soon.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi secured a second term in office in the most recent parliamentary election in November in the Southeast Asian country with 50 million inhabitants. According to official figures, your NLD party won an absolute majority, and the turnout was over 70 percent.
But even after the election, Suu Kyi remained dependent on cooperation with the military. A quarter of the seats in the parliamentary chambers were reserved for the armed forces. This is what it says in the constitution of 2008, which the junta drafted in order not to be disempowered even after the introduction of democratic reforms.
Due to another clause, Suu Kyi cannot become president, but rules the former Burma as a state councilor and thus de facto head of government. Without the military, constitutional changes are not possible, and it controls the most important ministries.
Suu Kyi had been under house arrest for 15 years under the military dictatorship that had ruled for decades. The former freedom icon is now controversial internationally. The promised democratic reforms in the Buddhist country have so far largely failed to materialize and Suu Kyi is now showing an increasingly authoritarian style of government himself.
Suu Kyi has also come under criticism for state discrimination against the Rohingya and for their silence on violence against the Muslim minority.
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source https://pledgetimes.com/myanmar-prime-minister-aung-san-suu-kyi-arrested-by-the-military-welt/
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