Myanmar's military says it's taking over as world leaders look on in shock

January 31, 2021

Myanmar's military says it's taking over as world leaders look on in shock

FILE PHOTO: Photographs of Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi hung in a shop in Yangon, Myanmar, January 23, 2020. REUTERS/Ann Wang — FILE PHOTO: Photos of Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi are seen in a shop in Yangon
Reuters

The military of Myanmar said it would be taking control of the country for the next year.
Earlier on Monday, several top government officials, including Aun San Suu Kyi and president Win Myint, were rounded up.
Global diplomatic leaders are expressing outrage and dismay at the move.
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Myanmar's military announced on Monday that it would be taking over the country for at least a year.

The announcement was made on the military-owned television channel Myawaddy TV, and followed the detainment of several top Myanmar politicians, including Aung San Suu Kyi and Myanmar President Win Myint. Members of the ruling National League for Democracy were also taken into custody, according to the AP.

The military, called the Tatmadaw, claimed there was massive voter fraud during the country's November 2020 election, and on January 26 released a list of corruption allegations. The claims were rejected by the country's election commission, according to the Associated Press.

World leaders expressed shock and outrage at the military takeover.

"We call on Burmese military leaders to release all government officials and civil society leaders and respect the will of the people of Burma as expressed in democratic elections on November 8," Secretary of State Antony Blinken tweeted. "The military must reverse these actions immediately."

In a statement on Monday, the military said the international community "should not be endorsing the next steps of the political process on a business-as-usual basis without understanding actual events," according to the Myanmar Times.

Myanmar's military ran the country until 2010, when it began transitioning toward a democratic model. In recent years, Aung San Suu Kyi, who was hailed as a humanitarian hero and presented with a Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, has been criticized for her imprisonment and torture of the Rohingya ethnic minority.

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