Over the past decade, Aung San Suu Kyi, a democracy icon, grew in popularity among the Myanmar people, as she was a strong supporter of peaceful resistance of the military (Cuddy). Myanmar has a long history of military ruling. In 2015, Aung San Suu Kyi won the election which was one of the first openly contested elections in 25 years in Myanmar (Cuddy). When Aung San Suu Kyi refused to stand up for Myanmar’s Rohingya Muslim Minority, her popularity plunged overseas (Cuddy). However, at home, she was still favored by the majority Buddhist population (Cuddy). In 2020, her and her party won re-election and almost completely wiped out the pro-military opposition (Cuddy). The military claimed that there was voter fraud, even though there was no evidence of such intervention (Cuddy).
On February 1st, a coup began to unfold (Cuddy). Aung San Suu Kyi, along with other civilian leaders were arrested, even though they were rightfully voted into power (Cuddy). The military then announced a year-long state of emergency and said that they were going to hold new elections (Cuddy). A large population of the Myanmar people came to the streets and protested (Cuddy). The protesters were angry that the leader that they voted in was taken down and they demanded that democracy be restored (Cuddy). The protesters were hit with “water cannons, rubber bullets and live ammunition” by the military in order to control the crowds (Cuddy). Hundreds of protesters have been killed, according to the “Assistance Association for Political Prisoners” (Stringer).
Aung San Suu Kyi has been held by the military since the coup and is facing charges for several violations (Cuddy). Some of these violations include “possessing illegal walkie-talkies, violating Covid-19 restrictions during last year’s election campaign and publishing information that may ‘cause fear or alarm’” (Cuddy).
Myanmar’s military junta chief Min Aung Hluaing has taken over Myanmar as a result of this coup (Regan). Over 3,000 people fled to Thailand from Myanmar’s southeastern Karen state after military jets bombed and killed hundreds of unarmed people (Regan). Many civilians have fled their homes and are hiding in the jungle (Regan).
After researching this topic it is apparent that Myanmar will continue to remain in chaos until an election is held that is respected by all parties. Will the citizens settle for an election run by the military? Will the military ever allow a true democracy?
Additional Resources:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/16/asia/gallery/myanmar-unrest/index.html
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-55902070
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-56331307
https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/29/asia/myanmar-deadly-weekend-intl-hnk/index.html
4 comments:
I really like this post and was actually thinking of doing it myself until I saw that it was already taken. This is a very interesting article as it educates us about what is going on but it is also very alarming that situations like this happen in the world today. It seems absurdly unfair that the military group just removed the voted in official due to alleged voter fraud, and other accusations. This is a threat to democracy and has turned into a horrible situation where protestors are being killed mercilessly and must be stopped.
I also was thinking about doing this topic for my blog post. This coup emphasizes the importance of the transition of power as far as maintaining trust in institutions. Institutions are essential to the process of transitioning power peacefully. I am interested to see how things in Myanmar will be solved.
I am also doing this for my blog post.Your blog is very interesting and you do a good job explaining the whole situation. I think it is important to take in account the external influences and the same with the domestic struggles.
wow great blog! i feel i understand the situation very well now. I would love to talk more about ways how power transitions can be done most peacefully.
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