![]() ![]() The launch of a general strike two days later led to dozens of arrests in Naypyitaw and elsewhere. On February 20, at least two people were killed when police and soldiers opened fire during a rally in Mandalay. ![]() This came a week after US officials blocked an attempt made by the Central Bank of Myanmar to move roughly US$1b held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.Īs protests continued to grow, crackdowns began to claim more lives. On February 11, the United States announced that it had imposed sanctions on Min Aung Hlaing and nine other senior military figures. On February 9, it claimed its first victim-20-year-old Mya Thwe Thwe Khine, who was shot in the head by police in Naypyitaw and died 10 days later. As the rallies grew, the junta started throttling internet connections and escalating its use of force. Meanwhile, the junta began filing charges against Suu Kyi and other members of the ousted government.Īnti-coup street protests that began in Mandalay on February 4 soon spread to towns and cities across Myanmar, with crowd sizes swelling to the hundreds of thousands within days. This was soon followed by the launch of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) by public-sector medical workers and other state employees. Ordinary citizens responded by banging potsto drive out the “evil spirits” that had taken over the country. In a statement released by her party, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi urged the public to “resoundingly resist” the coup. President Win Myint was removed from office and replaced by military appointee Vice President Myint Swe, who immediately transferred power to Min Aung Hlaing after declaring a one-year state of emergency. Senior government leaders and prominent activists were rounded up and taken into custody, and telephone and internet services were cut. ![]() And then it did, on February 1, 2021, the day that parliament was set to reconvene under a second NLD administration.įebruary 1 began with pre-dawn raids. “We can’t,” he said, adding: “I am neither saying the military will seize state power, nor that it won’t.” The next day, Min Aung Hlaing added to the growing unease when he suggested that the country’s military-drafted constitution could be scrapped if people failed to abide by it.Īs ultranationalist groups began staging pro-military rallies around the country and armoured vehicles started appearing in the streets of Yangon and other cities, it became clear that something was about to happen. On January 26, as fears of a coup persisted, a reporter asked military spokesperson Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun if the military would rule out seizing power if its allegations of election-rigging were not addressed. “It’s not okay if they keep saying that the judge played foul,” he said on January 8. It was “political suicide” for the military to push its claims of electoral fraud, according to President’s Office spokesperson Zaw Htay. The military and its proxies continued to press the matter, but failed to make any headway with efforts to overturn the election results. The UEC responded by calling the party “deluded” for making the demand. On November 11, three days after the election, the USDP held a press conference insisting that a new vote be held under military supervision. “I’ll have to accept the people’s wish and the results that come with it,” he said as he emerged from a polling station in Naypyitaw.īut when voters gave the NLD another landslide victory, tensions returned. On the day itself, however, he seemed to tamp down concerns over how he might react to the election outcome. Even days before the election, he continued to cast doubt on the UEC’s integrity, urging it to be “careful” to ensure that polling was free and fair. “There is nothing I dare not do,” he declared in August 2020, as he floated claims that the NLD-appointed Union Election Commission (UEC) had “corrupted” the process to favour the NLD over the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP). Months before the country went to the polls on November 8, 2020, Snr-Gen Min Aung Hlaing, the armed forces’ commander-in-chief, appeared to be preparing for the prospect of another electoral victory by Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD). Long before the military takeover, it was clear that trouble was brewing. Here, Myanmar Now looks back on some key events of a year that will likely be remembered as a decisive period in Myanmar’s long struggle against tyranny. Leaders of that government, including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, were detained, and tanks rolled into the capital Naypyitaw, setting off a crisis that shows no signs of ending. Exactly one year ago today, the people of Myanmar woke up to the news that the military had overthrown the country’s elected civilian government. ![]()
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