By Abba Gwale
Myanmar’s military detained the country’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and other senior figures from the governing party on Monday, seizing power in a coup less than 10 years after it handed over power to a civilian government.
The ruling party’s Public Relations Officer confirmed the coup when he said the former President is in detention together with some top executive council members.
The military said it carried out the detentions in response to fraud in last November’s general election, which Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) won by a landslide.
The country was in political tension between civilian government and military who said the last election was full of irregularities.
The country was under military regime until 2011 when they agreed to a transition of power to civilian government.
President Suu Kyi was in detention for several years under the country’s military regime before election.
Military says that power has since been handed over to country’s chief of army staff, Min Aung Hlaing. The country’s radio stations are not on air and the internet connection is also cut off.
The coup marks a major blow to the country’s transition from military rule to democracy, which began about a decade ago. The U.S. and human-rights groups called on the military to adhere to democratic norms.
