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Situation in Myanmar/Burma explainer: The military (Tatmadaw) has arrested Aung San Suu Kyi and other leaders from her NLD party over claims of electoral fraud.
ASSK's NLD received 83% of the vote in November's election. Burma has been a partial democracy since ASSK came to
ASSK's NLD received 83% of the vote in November's election. Burma has been a partial democracy since ASSK came to
power in 2016. Prior to that Burma had been a military dictatorship since the 1960s. Now there is a hybrid system where 25% of the seats in Parliament are reserved for the military. The USDP are the opposition party and are a proxy for the military, and were the official ruling
party prior to the NLD's victory in 2015. The USDP, who won only 33 of the 476 seats in Nov has also made claims of electoral fraud. As a state made up of multiple ethnic groups, there are numerous smaller parties who have also claimed (minor) electoral irregularities.
Electoral observers say there were not major irregularities. Internally the NLD and Aung San Suu Kyi have widespread support - it was this fact that led to the Tatmadaw relinquishing power inititally, so public outcry is likely. A question is the international response.
Aung San Suu Kyi was, of course, lionised internationally when she first took power. The hybrid-system has created something between a democracy and military dictatorship allowing the Tatmadaw to operate largely independent from ASSK and her government.
This is how a situation was created where the Tatmadaw committed the Rohingya genocide of 2017 in Rakhine State. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi's response ranged from silence to defending and justifying the actions as, frankly speaking, persecution of the Rohingya is largely popular
among Burmese society due to decades of anti-Muslim rhetoric from extremist but popular Buddhist monks like U Wirathu. Because of these events ASSK has fallen out of favour. The Rohingya genocide is thought to have happened without much input from ASSK. It is thought it happened
under the watch of Army Commander Min Aung Hlaing. Min Aung Hlaing is the man who took power this morning. Autocratic governments, such as China who are committing a genocide against a Muslim minority themselves, will say "nothing to see here, move along" but how will the
democratic world now react? This is the first big foreign policy challenge of the Biden administration.
If you're interesting in reading, say, another 16,495 words on democratic reform in Myanmar, then I may have something for you.
