Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of Myanmar’s civilian government, urged people across the country to stand up and oppose a military takeover that would take control of the country on Monday.
Suu Kyi and other prominent officials were detained earlier, a day before lawmakers elected in November would begin a new term.
“I urge people not to accept this, to react and wholeheartedly protest against the coup by the military,” according to a statement containing Suu Kyi’s name but not her signature. “Only the people are important.”
A handwritten note at the bottom of the statement posted on Facebook by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy party, or NLD, says it was written before Monday in anticipation of the army’s power attack.
The NLD won 83 percent of the vote in the November election and the country’s Electoral Commission rejected allegations of misconduct. The army has declared a state of emergency for a year and says it will hold elections thereafter.
According to Myawaddy TV, which is controlled by the army, military leader Min Aung-Hliang will now head the government. The military said it had taken control of the country in response to “election fraud”.
The US State Department confirm local reports that some internet connections were down while the US embassy in the capital Yangon, said on Twitter the road to the city’s main airport was closed.
Troops and riot police kept up in Yangon, where residents rushed to markets to stockpile, while others lined up at ATMs to withdraw cash.
Yangon restaurant Koki Nakajima, 34, told NBC News he saw Burmese army supporters celebrate the coup on flat -bed trucks in the city while playing loud music.
The military, which drafted Myanmar’s 2008 constitution, gets 25 percent of the country’s parliamentary seats, as well as control of the ministries of defense, interior and border.
The announcement on military-owned television quoted the country’s constitution, which allows the military to take over in times of need. The broadcaster said the crisis over the coronavirus and the government’s failure to postpone the election in November were reasons for the emergency.
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The military drafted the constitution in 2008 and retained power under the charter at the expense of democratic, civilian rule. New York-based international campaigner Human Rights Watch described the clause as a ‘coup d’etat’.
The takeover was quickly condemned outside the country. The US, UK, European Union, Australia and Singapore have all called for Suu Kyi to be released.
“The United States stands with the people of Burma in their pursuit of democracy, freedom, peace and development,” said Foreign Minister Antony Blinken, using the country’s name until it was adopted by the ruling military in 1989. junta has been changed.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “expressed serious concern about the declaration of the transfer of all legislative, executive and judicial powers to the military”.
On Monday, pro-Suu Kyi protests took place in Bangkok, Thailand, where protesters waged a long campaign against military influence in Thai society.
Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch, called the military’s justification for the takeover a ‘manufactured excuse’.
“Our worst nightmare came true,” he said.
Suu Kyi, 75, a winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, won a landslide victory in the 2015 election after 15 years of house arrest.
Her reputation was tarnished after hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims fled army persecution in 2017, but she remains popular at home.
Thinzar Shunlei Yi, a human rights activist in Yangon, cited a repeat of history referring to the NLD’s 1990 landslide election.
“The military has used the same tactics if they do not agree with the outcome of an election,” she said.
“We are concerned about how long this coup will take place,” she added. “Before, when they did it in 1962, it took decades.”
Patrick Smith from London reported, Rhea Mogul from Hong Kong.
Reuters contributed to this article.
Dawn Liu and Eric Baculinao contributed.