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Coup in Myanmar

angrysoba

Philosophile
angrysoba
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Myanmar’s army has declared that it has taken control of the country and announced a state of emergency, hours after it detained Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior figures from the ruling party.

Phone and internet access to the capital Naypyitaw were lost on Monday morning, state-run MRTV television said it had been unable to broadcast, and soldiers were reportedly deployed outside City Hall in the main city of Yangon on Monday morning.

Military television later reported that the army had taken control of the country for one year, with power handed to commander-in-chief General Min Aung Hlaing. It said it had detained senior government leaders in response to fraud during last year’s general election.
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Not that long ago, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Aung San Suu Kyi was a hero of the democratic struggle. I wonder if there will be as much of an outcry now that the military have taken over, as there would have been only a few years ago.
 
angrysoba said:
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Not that long ago, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Aung San Suu Kyi was a hero of the democratic struggle. I wonder if there will be as much of an outcry now that the military have taken over, as there would have been only a few years ago.
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You think she might have lost some goodwill since then?
 
Mixed reactions from Burmese Muslims on social media. Unsurprising.

Now she's lost her status and should-be allies.
 
angrysoba said:
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Not that long ago, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Aung San Suu Kyi was a hero of the democratic struggle. I wonder if there will be as much of an outcry now that the military have taken over, as there would have been only a few years ago.
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I have a Rohingya refugee family living down the road from me (their oldest daughter, Yadana, is a classmate and friend of my grand-daughter). They appear very happy about this news.
 
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I wouldn't necessarily cheer a military coup. I don't know much about the Myanmar military, but generally armies world-wide have, shall we say, a poor track record when it comes to giving the power back.
 
HansMustermann said:
I wouldn't necessarily cheer a military coup. I don't know much about the Myanmar military, but generally armies world-wide have, shall we say, a poor track record when it comes to giving the power back.
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They also have a pretty poor behavior record while in power. Should this put a stop to the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people, there would be at least something positive to this coup, but I fear it's "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss" yet again. The new strongman appears to be Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who has been the head of the military during all the anti-Rohingya action.
 
HansMustermann said:
I wouldn't necessarily cheer a military coup. I don't know much about the Myanmar military, but generally armies world-wide have, shall we say, a poor track record when it comes to giving the power back.
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timhau said:
They also have a pretty poor behavior record while in power. Should this put a stop to the ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya people, there would be at least something positive to this coup, but I fear it's "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss" yet again. The new strongman appears to be Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, who has been the head of the military during all the anti-Rohingya action.
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Indeed.
 
angrysoba said:
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Not that long ago, Nobel Peace Prize Winner, Aung San Suu Kyi was a hero of the democratic struggle. I wonder if there will be as much of an outcry now that the military have taken over, as there would have been only a few years ago.
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It would appear that the Burmese military were always in control.
 
smartcooky said:
I have a Rohingya refugee family living down the road from me (their oldest daughter, Yadana, is a classmate and friend of my grand-daughter). They appear very happy about this news.
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Can't say I blame them, even if "military coup" often turns badly, very quickly.

Don't really know much that anyone hasn't already said, so I'll keep my metaphorical mouth shut and just watch. except to say I hope it ends well.
 
timhau said:
They also have a pretty poor behavior record while in power.
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Well, I think the two are kinda linked. No disrespect to soldiers anywhere, but you have to admit that the army isn't exactly democratic. You don't get to vote whether you really want to assault that building. Orders only come downward, and they're to be obeyed. So I'm not setting my hope up that some career officer who's been working all his life under this mind set, turns out to be perfectly able to restore a democracy and all.
 
Poor Aung Suu Kyi. She sold her soul, and the devil stiffed her, and now there's nothing she can do about it.

Serves her right, the shape shifting whatnot.

But too bad, the people of that country.
 
It appears the justification the military is publicly using for carrying out the coup is that there was "widespread election fraud". Gee, I wonder where they got that silly idea.
 
Airfix said:
It would appear that the Burmese military were always in control.
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Quite. The 2008 constitution was written explicitly to prevent Aung Suu Kyi becoming president, and it included a clause saying the military would appoint 25% of the members of the national assembly. Given that it would require 75%+1 to change the constitution, you can imagine what a futile effort that would be.

I've also seen some references to Min Aung Hlaing, the coup leader, being up for mandatory retirement in the summer, which, given how the military controls a lot of industries and the resulting income, he probably wasn't all in favour of.

Aung Suu Kyi may have signed a deal with the devil, and her defense of the Rohingyan genocide cannot be defended in any way, but it's hard to argue that the West's decision to undo sanctions on the military leaders made it any easier for her to stand up to them.
 
Anyone seen the video of the lady filming her aerobic workout and accidentally capturing part of the coup starting in the background? I saw it on Reddit and assumed it wasn't genuine (or was footage of something else) but now it's on BBC News.
 
TragicMonkey said:
Anyone seen the video of the lady filming her aerobic workout and accidentally capturing part of the coup starting in the background? I saw it on Reddit and assumed it wasn't genuine (or was footage of something else) but now it's on BBC News.
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Yeah it's been passing around and already become prime meme fodder.

I don't see why it shouldn't be real. A lady filming an aerobics routine outside happens to capture a convoy of military vehicles heading in to effect the coup.
 
Checkmite said:
It appears the justification the military is publicly using for carrying out the coup is that there was "widespread election fraud". Gee, I wonder where they got that silly idea.
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A few Trump-loving Burmese friends are blaming it on Biden and his stolen election. :rolleyes:

Others are still lamenting Trump's loss as if the military would not have done this on his watch. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
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