Crisis in Myanmar after army alleges election fraud
01 February, 2021
Myanmar's leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior statistics from the ruling get together were detained within an morning hours raid on Mon (Feb 1), the spokesman for the governing National League for Democracy said.
The maneuver came after Myanmar's powerful armed service triggered worry in regards to a coup last week after threatening to "take action" over alleged fraud in a November election won by Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD).
The NLD led by Suu Kyi, a former political prisoner and figurehead of Myanmar's long struggle against dictatorship, won 83 % of available seats in the Nov 8 election regarded as a referendum on her behalf fledgling democratic government.
WHO RULES IN MYANMAR?
Nobel Peace Prize winner Suu Kyi, 75, came to power after a 2015 landslide election win that followed years of house arrest on challenging for democracy that turned her into a global icon.
Her international standing was damaged after thousands of Rohingya fled army procedures into refuge from Myanmar's western Rakhine express in 2017, but she remains hugely preferred at home.
The military, as the architect of Myanmar's 2008 constitution and fledgling democracy, sees itself as the guardian of national unity and the constitution, and it has enshrined a long lasting role for itself in the political system.
Referred to as the Tatmadaw, that gets an unelected quota of 25 % of parliamentary seats and that controls the defence, interior and borders ministries, ensuring a crucial stake in politics.
WHY DID THE Army CHALLENGE THE MOST RECENT VOTE?
The armed service alleged discrepancies such as duplicated names on voting lists in scores of districts and was unhappy with the election commission's response to its complaints.
The military didn't say if irregularities were substantial more than enough to have changed the election outcome.
Its grievance was similar compared to that of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the ex - ruling get together created by the army before it officially ceded power in 2011.
The USDP, widely regarded as a military proxy, was humiliated in the election, winning simply 33 of 476 available seats.
HOW DID THE NLD, OTHER PARTIES RESPOND TO ELECTION?
Suu Kyi hasn't commented on her behalf party's election success, nor on the military's complaints, however the NLD said the military's allegations were groundless and any election flaws wouldn't normally have changed the results.
Of the a lot more than 90 get-togethers that contested the vote, at least 17 have complained of mostly small irregularities and all except the USDP are smaller parties. Election observers have explained the voting was without important irregularities.
The election commission on Thursday said there have been no errors on a scale that could mean fraud or the election being discredited.
WHAT DID THE MILITARY SAY?
The spokesman for the armed forces, Brigadier General Zaw Min Tun, held a news conference last week on its allegations but gave a succession of non-committal answers to questions about the military's intentions.
He said the military would "take action", and work with all available options like the Supreme Courtroom. Asked if the armed service would cooperate with the brand new authorities and legislature, he advised reporters "wait and watch".
Asked if he'd eliminate a coup, Zaw Min Tun explained "cannot say so".
On Saturday, Myanmar's military had said it would protect and follow the constitution and act according to legislation.
WHAT DOES THE COUNTRY'S CONSTITUTION SAY?
The constitution says the commander-in-chief can take power only in extreme circumstances that might lead to "disintegration of the union, disintegration of national solidarity and lack of sovereign power", but only throughout a state of emergency, that may only be declared by the civilian president.
The commander-in-chief, Senior Standard Min Aung Hlaing, caused intrigue the other day when he told military personnel a constitution was a "mother legislation for all laws" and if not abided by, it ought to be revoked. He cited past instances when that had occurred in Myanmar.
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