Aung San Suu Kyi, leader of the government of Myanmar (formerly Burma) and the National League for Democracy, and Win Myint, president of the country, were arrested this Monday morning by the country’s military.
Several prominent members ofthe National League for Democracy, the party that won elections by a large margin last year, were also detained, according to Reuters.
Government spokesmen appealed to the people to respect the law and to avoid less thoughtful reactions. There is still no official confirmation as to who ordered the arrests or who may be leading a possible coup d’etat in the southeastern Southeast country, which has also been in the news for the persecution against the Rohingya ethnic minority.
Among observers, there are those who recall the context that preceded these arrests: after a large-scale electoral victory in November, suspicions of fraud followed, with the purpose of benefiting the party, the National League for Democracy, by Suu Kyi.
Between the elections and the present day there was no lack of public accusations by members of the opposition and the armed forces who claimed the insertion of 8.6 million votes in the final election count. Some human rights groups have also denounced the alleged suppression of voting rights for voters in some regions of the country.
Following these suspicions and accusations, Min Aung Hlaing, leader of the Armed Forces and probably the most powerful man in the country, circulated dissatisfaction with the alleged illegalities carried out during the counting of votes.
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