Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi detained, ruling party spokesman says

[wangotango]

Even with her faults she is still the best chance of a better life for the Myanmar people. ( money going to education, health etc. instead of into the pockets of the generals and their cronies.)

[onthedarkside]

A post making an unsourced and unsubstantiated claim has been removed, along with several ensuing responses.

 

[colinneil]

Just now, wangotango said:

Even with her faults she is still the best chance of a better life for the Myanmar people. ( money going to education, health etc. instead of into the pockets of the generals and their cronies.)

Think you should change your comment a bit,  i think it should have read..... She was the best chance of a better life, but she has totally blown it, all talk and no action.

When they had elections, and she got into government, i thought highly of her, after hearing all she promised, but sadly like most who get elected it was a case of bluster, nothing else.

[edwinchester]

1 hour ago, zzzzz said:

One giant step back to the 90's

 

Military/ Tadmadaw announced on military channel that military-backed VP is the acting president of Myanmar and transferring all power to Commander in Chief Min Aung Hlaing for one year of “STATE OF EMERGENCY”

 

Thailand's response;

 

Dep-PM Prawit was asked this AM if the coup has any effect on Thailand, he said “it’s their domestic issue.”

Brothers in arms springs to mind.

[ThailandRyan]

And this cut from an article a few ago tells you what Thailands military government thinks.

 

https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/protest-called-at-myanmars-bangkok-embassy-to-oppose-coup/

 

While one deputy prime minister told reporters this morning they were awaiting information about what was happening inside Myanmar, another dismissed word of a coup as an internal matter.

“It’s their business,” said Prawit Wongsuwan, a former army commander who helped stage Thailand’s 2014 coup. “It’s their domestic issue.”

Edited February 1, 2021 by ThailandRyan

[wangotango]

1 hour ago, colinneil said:

Think you should change your comment a bit,  i think it should have read..... She was the best chance of a better life, but she has totally blown it, all talk and no action.

When they had elections, and she got into government, i thought highly of her, after hearing all she promised, but sadly like most who get elected it was a case of bluster, nothing else.

To be fair it wasn't easy to get major changes through when the military have a 25% gauranteed  presence in the parliament

plus the minor party reps who support the army and any changes to the constitution require a 75% plus vote. And that still remains the same today so I don't know why they seen the need for a state of emergency.

[harada]

Now they can kiss what might have been left of their economy after the pandemic goodbye, smart move. 

[Patong2021]

1 hour ago, colinneil said:

Think you should change your comment a bit,  i think it should have read..... She was the best chance of a better life, but she has totally blown it, all talk and no action.

When they had elections, and she got into government, i thought highly of her, after hearing all she promised, but sadly like most who get elected it was a case of bluster, nothing else.

Be fair. What did you expect her to do? The army command still ran the show and she had no room to negotiate. Her primary concern was to improve the living conditions of her people and she accomplished that.

[colinneil]

Just now, Patong2021 said:

Be fair. What did you expect her to do? The army command still ran the show and she had no room to negotiate. Her primary concern was to improve the living conditions of her people and she accomplished that.

Absolute nonsense, no way did she improve anything for the people, Rohinyas are people, and she totally screwed them.

[ThailandRyan]

23 minutes ago, Patong2021 said:

Be fair. What did you expect her to do? The army command still ran the show and she had no room to negotiate. Her primary concern was to improve the living conditions of her people and she accomplished that.

Which will now go backwards.  My GF and her friends and families are now hoping that what they have does not dissappear, especially since she is of Karen Descent.  Trying to get money right now from the banks is a no go.

[Deli]

7 hours ago, PatOngo said:

It's hard to voice an opinion when the army has a gun pointed at your head!

 

Same as in... ok, we all know

[simon43]

43 minutes ago, ThailandRyan said:

 Trying to get money right now from the banks is a no go.

 

Yep - I tried to withdraw the balance from my Myanmar bank account (I can usually do this from the ATM in Laos).  No go right now, and I'm glad that the balance is fairly minimal.

[Venom]

8 hours ago, Somtamnication said:

She should be. She completely ignored her own citizens pleading for help to stop forced evictions. Karma is a.........ich

 

Yup, I'm surprised the military turned on her, maybe she was skimming off too much of their ill gotten gains for herself and her cronies. Perhaps the military does not like the competition. 

[malibukid]

thank god this would never happen here

[Walker88]

The internet is back on in Myanmar, as I've received emails from friends there.

[mfd101]

Poor little Burma. It has after all grown up in a pretty bad neighborhood - a bit of Bangladesh, a whole lot of the more rickety bits of rickety old India, a whole lot of China (that's always a worry), a bit of Laos, and a whole lot of the only wholesome kid on the lot, Thailand.

 

Still, you can't predict how the kids'll turn out when they grow up.

 

 

[FNQ]

Looks like China going to get that Port.

[chilly07]

Influx of refugees would be Thailand's problem not a domestic one and there has been a bit of a border problem anyway.

[Odysseus123]

24 minutes ago, chilly07 said:

Influx of refugees would be Thailand's problem not a domestic one and there has been a bit of a border problem anyway.

Ah...but they are all singing from the same song book  just now..

 

[malibukid]

6 hours ago, webfact said:

Myanmar military seizes power, detains elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi

 

FILE PHOTO: Myanmar pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi arrives at Parliament buildings on the Stormont estate in Belfast, October 24, 2013 REUTERS/Cathal McNaughton/File Photo

 

(Reuters) - 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 said 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. A military spokesman did not answer phone calls seeking further comment.

 

Phone lines to the capital Naypyitaw and the main commercial centre 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 fledgling democratic government.

 

Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior figures from the ruling party have been detained, the spokesman for the governing National League for Democracy said on Monday. This report produced by Chris Dignam.

 

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 also had fallen dramatically, monitoring service NetBlocks said.

 

Suu Kyi, Myanmar President Win Myint and other NLD leaders had been "taken" 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. Reuters was subsequently unable to contact him.

 

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.

 

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.

 

COUP FEARS

Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi, 75, came to power after a 2015 election win that followed decades of house arrest in a struggle for democracy with Myanmar's junta that turned her into an international icon.

 

Her international standing was damaged after hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled army operations into refuge from Myanmar's western Rakhine state in 2017, but she remains hugely popular at home.

 

Political tensions soared last week when a military spokesman declined to rule out a coup ahead of the new parliament convening on Monday, and military chief Min Aung Hlaing raised the prospect of repealing the constitution.

 

But the military appeared to backtrack on the weekend, issuing a statement on social media on Sunday saying it would "do everything possible to adhere to the democratic norms of free and fair elections".

 

Tanks were deployed in some streets last week and pro-military demonstrations have taken place in some cities ahead of the first gathering of parliament.

 

Myanmar's election commission has rejected the military's allegations of vote fraud.

 

The constitution published in 2008 after decades of military rule reserves 25% of seats in parliament for the military and control of three key ministries in Suu Kyi's administration.

 

Daniel Russel, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia under President Barack Obama, who fostered close ties with Suu Kyi, said another military takeover in Myanmar would be a severe blow to democracy in the region.

 

"If true, this is a huge setback - not only for democracy in Myanmar, but for U.S. interests. It’s yet another reminder that the extended absence of credible and steady U.S. engagement in the region has emboldened anti-democratic forces," he said.

 

Murray Hiebert, a Southeast Asia expert at Washington’s Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank, said the situation was a challenge for the new U.S. administration.

 

"The U.S. as recently as Friday had joined other nations in urging the military not to move forward on its coup threats. China will stand by Myanmar like it did when the military kicked out the Rohingya,” he said.

 

John Sifton, Asia advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, said Myanmar's military had never submitted to civilian rule and called on the United States and other countries to impose "strict and directed economic sanctions" on the military leadership and its economic interests.

 

(Reporting by Reuters staff; Writing by Stephen Coates; Editing by Peter Cooney and Lincoln Feast.)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2021-02-01

 

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events of the last 3 months in the U.S. has damaged its credibility as a shining example of democracy.  

[BusyB]

10 hours ago, KarenBravo said:

Her halo fell off her head when she watched with silence the butchering of the Rohingya people.

She should have been stripped of her Nobel Peace prize.

 

And what's worst is it hasn't helped her other causes one whit ...

[hotchilli]

11 hours ago, Boomer6969 said:

For a while Myanmar looked better that the Land Of S...

 

But is must be the regional disease, worse than Covid.

A regional disease called the military.

[hotchilli]

7 hours ago, webfact said:

The army said 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. A military spokesman did not answer phone calls seeking further comment

Myanmar is a lost cause, the military will rule via the vote, and if that goes against them then rule via force.

[Burma Bill]

7 hours ago, zzzzz said:

One giant step back to the 90's

  Not really, more like the 60's (ref: wikipedia) which lasted almost 50 years!!

.

The 1962 Burmese coup d'état on 2 March 1962 marked the beginning of one-party rule and the political dominance of the army in Burma 

[Walker88]

The military wrote the Constitution, and they had a vote where the population was required to vote in favor of the Constitution.

 

The ballots were' secret, but after voting the citizen had to put it in either the "Yes" or "No" box, with the "No" box overlooked by armed officers. Some other venues used different tactics, like having voters writer their name and address on the ballot.

 

As expected, the military Constitution was approved by the populace. This was all several years ago.

 

One aspect of the Constitution was that the military had the right, at any time and for any reason, to retake power. That is what the coup is relying on today.

 

The NLD tried to alter the Constitution to take that amendment out, but could not get it done.

 

Today that amendment was invoked.

[unblocktheplanet]

So Qanon was right? First the election was stolen from Trump and now Min Aung Hlaing! Suu Kyi has been a straw woman from the beginning, surrendering her principles to the generals.

 

Looks like Thailand has competition in the junta dept! 'Ours' just spent 191mil on "crowd control". Better send them to the land border!

[unblocktheplanet]

Doubt she'll be treated to house arrest this time. She may join her father on Martyr's Day...

[Ventenio]

everyone reporting on this is in Bangkok.....  lol

 

I heard somewhere a ridiculous amount of people have been arrested in Burma.  like 20% has been detained or arrested once....

 

anyhow, i think Burma will be FANTASTIC!!!  The Best!!!   In about 200-years  

[Scott Tracy]

No civilian government in any country in this region has the balls to get to grips with their military. 

 

Most of the so called civilian leadership is ex forces, so they have a vested interest in keeping their military sweet. Those that are not, are accused by the military of corruption and fraud, if they are not kept sweet.

 

Having said that, I echo what has been said before, although with a caveat. Aung Sang Suu Kyi is guilty of permitting mass relocation and genocide. Guilty because there was nothing she could do, even if she had wanted to, as that was the will of the military.

[Enzian]

About 7 or 8 years ago I spent some time in two of the 10 or so refugee camps on the Thai side of the border with Burma. A regular farang or Thai cannot go into those camps normally; my access was because my friend is a farang monk with Burmese exile monk friends in the camps. Our stepping off place was Mai Sot.

I've often thought if I ever got tired of the fleshpots of Bangkok I would move there and teach in one of the camp schools run by volunteers--the Thai government refuses to provide schooling for the kids in the camps. (International organizations provide everyone with about 2200 calories per day, that's it.) We took about a half pick-up truckload of books that I paid for; the teachers there seemed to appreciate the donation. 

With what's going on I'll have to catch up with what's going on there now. And if it will get worse.