Boots in Myanmar

Myanmar, a country familiar with military coups and controlled by its powerful army, which has dominated politics since 1962, is once again under military control. A coup d'etat led to the detention of leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who had assumed power in 2011 under a negotiated deal with her country's military. Kyi was seen as a hero by the people of her country and had previously received the Nobel Prize for Peace. She fell from grace though after the massacre of the Rohingya in eastern Myanmar, and a mass exodus of the Muslim minority which suffered human rights violations of various kinds aided by Kyi’s government and her party, the National League for Democracy.

The military coup is not entirely a surprise. There had been rumours in the Myanmar press and in international outlets of growing tensions between the two sides since elections in November, which the military claimed were rigged. The poll had been won by the National League. The military said that Suu Kyi and fellow leaders of her party had failed to act on military demands that the election be investigated and possibly conducted once again. The coup began on Sunday, and led to the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi herself and almost all the other top leadership of the party. Myanmar is now under control of an army leader who is its current martial law head of state. This throws the country into a huge amount of uncertainty once again. Since 2011, it had known a degree of stability despite the civil war. The coup has been condemned by most leaders around the world. It is not certain what happens now.

The troubles that were so familiar to Myanmar have returned. It is difficult to predict what will happen next. But it is difficult also to see a government made up of civilians undo an army coup very quickly. Many observers believe the military will remain in charge for some period of time as it has in the past. Right now, it has said it is just using an emergency law which permits it to retain power for one year. One year is a long time, especially in a country like Myanmar, where so much can happen very quickly. This has happened once again. Despite Aung San Suu Kyi’s unfortunate actions against the Rohingya and her fall from her status as a world leader for peace, freedom and equality, the coup throws Myanmar back many years into the past and sets back any effort to allow its people a democracy and the basic freedoms they deserve.