YANGON, 2 February 2021: Myanmar’s maverick military leaders seized power in a coup that ousted the country’s newly elected government on Monday.
Commander in chief of the military, Min Aung Hlaing declared a Stare of Emergency for one year.
Media reports said the State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and the entire cabinet were rounded up by the military in the early hours of Monday. At the same time, internet communications and TV stations went offline in the political capital, Nay Pyi Daw and the country’s largest city Yangon. They were restored later in the day but connections remain patchy. Reports suggested the Minister of Hotels and Tourism, Ohn Maung, was under house arrest at his official residence Nay Pyi Daw.
The latest military coup unfolded as the country new parliament was about to convene 1 February for the first time following the general election, 8 November 2020. It will also prevent the formation of the government and cabinet that should have been sworn in, 1 April 2021.
The National League for Democracy led by Aung San Suu Kyi won 396 out of 476 seats in parliament representing an even bigger win compared to the 2015 election. In contrast, the military’s proxy party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, won only 33 seats.
The army disputed the election results, claiming the vote was fraudulent while orchestrating protests over several days leading up to the coup, 10 years after it handed over power to a civilian government.
The power grab comes at the worst time for the country. It is already reeling under the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic that accelerated the collapse of an already fragile economy.
As of this week, the country reported 140,145 Covid-19 cases and 3,131 deaths one of the highest in Southeast Asia alongside Malaysia, the Philippines and Indonesia.
Tourism stalled last March, leaving millions unemployed and led to mass closures of hotels and family-run travel firms. Domestic flights restarted on a limited basis in late December, but the country remains closed to all international flights with the exception of a few repatriation flights to bring Myanmar citizens home.
On the eve of the coup, the government extended the suspension of all scheduled commercial passenger flights in and out of the country to 28 February at the earliest. It was due to expire 31 January.
Just a few repatriation flights such as Myanmar Airways International and Korean Air serve the Yangon – Seoul while the first supply of Covid-19 vaccines was flown in by Air India last month.
