Myanmar’s Military Coup
It all began when the National League of Democracy (NLD) won the parliamentary elections in November by more than 80% of the votes. The military viewed it as a fraud. There were some thought that it was a fraud due to some areas not being able to vote, but had no evidence of that.
Democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi was detained along with other NLD leaders on Monday February 1 by the military. She came under fire when she failed to speak out on the crimes the military was committing against Rohingya’s Muslims in the western Rakhine state.
Military commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing has taken power. Myanmar’s military says they will hold a “free and fair” election after the state of emergency is over.
Protests have been going on for over a month now, even with the implemented curfew and limited gatherings. Security have so far used live ammunition, rubber bullets and water cannons. Over 400 people have died during the protests, and on March 27 more than 100 people were killed.
Protesters are seen with posters of Aung San Suu Kyi and the three finger salute, in demand of her release. They are demanding the military to return power to civilian control. Social media, TV stations and even banks were shut down. Over 2,100 journalists, protestors, activists are detained.
Millions of people are refusing to go to work as a part of civil disobedience. They hope to force the military out of their power. Myanmar’s economy is slowly declining even though it’s already one of Asia’s poorest countries. Myanmar was expected to increase their economy by 2%, but is now declining by 10%.
