Aung San Suu Kyi won a resounding election as leader of the National League for Democracy Party amidst tensions between the civilian government and the military amid fears of a coup.
In elections in November, the NLD won enough seats to form the government, but the military says the vote was bogus. Myanmar, also known as Burma, was ruled by the military until 2011. Ms. Suu Kyi was under house arrest for many years.
The newly-elected lower house of parliament was convened for the first time on Monday, but the military was calling for a moratorium. According to reports, Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior officials of the ruling party have been detained.
The morning raids came amid growing tension between the civilian government and the military over the results of the November election.
Earlier this week, the military said the coup could not be ruled out if widespread voting fraud complaints were ignored in last November’s election.
Myanmar’s Election Commission dismissed allegations that the fraud played a key role in giving Aung San Suu Kyi’s ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD) a resounding victory. The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party won only 33 seats.
NLD spokesman Mayo Nyont told News Agency that Aung San Suu Kyi, President Vin Myint, and other leaders were “taken” in the early hours of the morning. “We want to tell our people that they don’t react in a hurry and I want them to act according to the law.”
Another NLD official, who did not ask names for fear of reprisal, said that one of those detained was Han Thar Mint, a member of the party’s Central Executive Committee.
Myanmar state television said on Facebook that it was unable to broadcast “due to communication problems”, while phone lines in the capital were not functioning.
The army lasted for nearly 50 years in Myanmar after the 1962 coup before beginning democracy with a general election in 1962.
Ms. Suu Kyi was placed in intense custody between 1989 and 2010 and received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her “Nonviolent Struggle for Democracy and Human Rights”.
Rohingya minorities in Rakhine State suffered internationally after their country’s brutal actions, but are extremely popular at home.
The NLD won a resounding victory by defeating a military supporter in the election last November.
The Myanmar military said on Saturday that it would protect and abide by the constitution and act according to the law as comments earlier in the week predicted a coup.
Myanmar’s Election Commission has dismissed military accusations of vote fraud, stating that there was no major error affecting the credibility of the vote.
The constitution has 25% seats in parliament for the military and control of the three major ministries in Suu Kyi’s administration.
In December, he defended his country in the International Court of Justice against the charge of genocide, “the situation is complicated”