Myanmar’s military seized power on Monday in a coup against the democratically elected government after detaining the country’s civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and numerous other top government figures.
Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s de facto leader, President Win Myint and other senior members of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party have been detained in the capital, Naypyidaw.
According to the military; it had carried out the detentions in response to “election fraud”, handing power to military chief Min Aung Hlaing and imposing a state of emergency for one year.
After this development, according to diplomats, the United Nations Security Council aims to discuss the situation in Myanmar on Tuesday.
France called for the immediate release of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and for the Myanmar military to respect the results of the last election.
“This arrest, as well as the transfer of legislative, executive and judicial power to the army is an unacceptable threat to the democratic process that was started about 10 years ago,” French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said in a statement.
German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas on this occasion took to the twitter saying “I condemn the military’s takeover of power in #Myanmar in the strongest possible terms. I call on the military to immediately release all persons arrested, incl. President Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, and to re-establish the constitutional order.”
The move comes after months of increasing friction between the civilian government and the powerful military, known as the Tatmadaw, over alleged election irregularities.
The two bodies have attempted to share power since the 2015 elections, Myanmar’s first openly contested poll since the end of military rule. That power sharing relationship now appears to be over following Monday’s coup.