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A woman recording her aerobics class as the military took power in a coup d’etat in Myanmar . Photo: Twitter

It’s taken ten years for the veneer to finally fall off Myanmar’s military-backed democracy. The military made its intentions clear in the early hours of Monday morning: it had had enough. In November 2020, Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) swept the election. Talk of economic reforms targeting military businesses and amendments to the 2008 constitution fed the military’s fear of the huge public support for the NLD.

Monday was to be the opening session of Myanmar’s newly elected parliament. Instead, President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi were detained along with national and regional political leaders, activists and NLD officials.

Armed soldiers now control city streets and airports, while phone and internet services were disrupted. Checkpoints and armoured vehicles made the military’s intentions clear.

Civilians were told via the military run Myawaddy TV the coup was necessary because of ‘cheating’ in the November 2020 election, won by a large majority by the NLD, which secured 396 seats out of a possible 476.

In an official statement, the military said since both the government and Electoral Union Commission ‘failed to address the causes’ it was the military’s ‘undeniable duty to exercise article 417’ and 418 of the constitution and to declare a state of emergency for one year.

The 2008 constitution allows for the president to request from the military for ‘emergency powers’ to be invoked. The protocol could not happen as laid out by the constitution since the country’s president, Win Myint, was detained by the military. Instead it was left to the military’s appointee, Vice President Myint Swe—a former general—to request for emergency powers to be exercised.

A government insider told Karen News (on condition of anonymity) that Myint Swe, now acting president, will pick ministers with military backgrounds to offset any attempts at economic reforms that would strip the military of its businesses or constitutional amendments that would curb the military’s power.

So far the military has failed to offer any evidence of voter fraud during the 2020 elections. The military’s derailment of Myanmar’s fledgling democracy has been slammed by some international governments and organisations, including the United States, Australia and the United Nations. The response from Myanmar’s neighbours has been muted and dressed in platitudes.

The Karen National Union’s vice chairperson, Saw Kwe Htoo Win told Karen News the country’s ethnic minorities had gained little despite ten years of democracy.

‘No matter if the military stages a coup or not, the power is already in their hands. For us ethnic nationalities, whether the NLD is in power or the military takes power, we are still not part of it [there’s no sharing of power]. Our people are the ones who will continue to suffer from this chauvinism.’

In recent months, the shelling of Karen villagers by the Burmese army has forced more than 7,000 civilians into jungle hideouts.

Karen soldiers fear the coming dry season will see an escalation of conflict as government soldiers launch offensives in an attempt to take control and grab resource-rich land.