The Myanmar army announced this Monday that it has taken control of the government .
In a message broadcast on television, the military chiefs declared the state of emergency for one year.
The announcement comes after Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the ruling League party National for Democracy (LND, was arrested in the early hours of Monday, reported the spokesman for the political body.
The alleged arrest occurred amid fears of a coup by the tensions between the civilian government and the army in the South Asian country.
The BBC’s Southeast Asia correspondent Jonathan Head reported that in the early hours of the tomorrow soldiers were seen in the streets of the capital, Naipyidó, and in the country’s largest city, Rangoon.
Telephone lines and internet service in Naypyitaw were interrupted , reported the Burmese Service of the BBC.
NLD spokesperson Myo Nyunt confirmed to the BBC that Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other leaders had been “captured” in the early hours of the morning .
Previously, in statements to the agency Reuters , the spokesman – who is also afraid of being arrested – said: “ I want to tell our people not to respond hastily and I want them to act in accordance with the law. ”
The soldiers also took the main ministers from their homes in various regions, their relatives denounced .
The NLD won enough seats in Parliament to form a government in November, but the army says the vote was fraudulent.
- 6 keys to understanding how Myanmar ended up being accused of genocide
The military asked the government to postpone the call to start the session of Parliament, planned to This Monday.
On Saturday, the armed forces vowed to abide by the Constitution as concerns mounted that they were preparing to strike.
What happened in the elections?
The LDN won the 83% of seats in the November 8 elections, which many saw as a referendum on Suu Kyi’s civilian government.
It was only the second democratic election since the end of the military regime in 2011. But the military has objected to the result and filed complaints in the Supreme Court against the president and the head of the electoral commission.
Fears of a coup d’état increased after the military recently threatened to “take action” for alleged fraud.
The Election commission has rejected the accusations.
Who is Aung San Suu Kyi?
Aung San Suu Kyi is the daughter of Myanmar’s independence hero General Aung San, who was assassinated when she was only 2 years old, just before the country gained independence from colonial rule British in 1948.
- Aung San Suu Kyi: how a Nobel Peace Prize ended up facing or a genocide trial in The Hague
Suu Kyi was once seen as a beacon of human rights: an activist who gave up her freedom to challenge the army generals who ruled Myanmar with a heavy hand for decades.
In 1991, received the Nobel Peace Prize, while still under house arrest, and was acclaimed as “an outstanding example of the power of the powerless” . Almost passed 15 years detained in periods between 1989 Y 2010.
In November of 2015, led the National League for Democracy to a landslide victory in the first election with opponents in Myanmar in 54 years.
The country’s Constitution prohibits her from becoming president because she has children who are foreigners, but Suu Kyi , now from 83 years, she is seen as a de facto leader.
Since she became Myanmar Councilor of State, her leadership has been defined Gone by the treatment of the country’s Rohingya minority, mostly Muslim, of the country.
- The BBC finds cracks in the official version of the violent attacks against Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar
In 2015, hundreds of thousands of Rohingya fled to neighboring Bangladesh due to to the military crackdown triggered by deadly attacks on police stations in Rakhine State.
Her old international allies accused her of doing nothing to stop the rape, murder and possible genocide by refusing to convict the still powerful military or acknowledge allegations of atrocities.
Some initially argued that it was a pragmatic policy that attempted to govern a multi-ethnic country with a complex history.
Your defense strategy at the International Court of Justice in 2019 in The Hague (Countries Basses) was seen as a new turning point that erased what little remained of his international reputation.
- “I am not a Mother Teresa”: Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi speaks to the BBC after accusations of ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority in Myanmar
In his country, however, “the Lady”, as Suu Kyi is known, remains very popular with the Buddhist majority who feel little sympathy by the Rohingya.
Now you can receive notifications from BBC News Mundo. Download our app and activate them so you don’t miss our best content.
- Do you already know our YouTube channel? Subscribe!