Burmese army declares state of emergency and takes control of the country

Burma's army declared a state of emergency on Monday, taking political control of the country for a year after arresting several members of the government, according to the military-controlled television channel.

The hitherto vice-president, Myint Swe, who was appointed to the post by the military thanks to the powers reserved to them by the current constitution, assumed the interim presidency and handed over all powers to the head of the armed forces, Min Aung Hlaing, the Myawaddy News channel reported.

The military takeover comes just hours after the arrest of Burma's de facto leader, State Counsellor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, and the former Burmese president, Win Myint, as well as several ministers and leaders of the ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) party.

The 30 or so detainees also include activists, writers and artists, according to an unofficial list to which Efe had access.

Telephone and communication lines have been cut off throughout the country since early this morning, while the only media outlet broadcasting is the military's channel.

In Rangoon, the country's largest city, long queues were seen in the morning at bank ATMs, some of which had already run out of cash.

Burma's parliament was scheduled to hold its first session of the legislature on Monday after the November 2020 elections, in which Suu Kyi's NLD won a landslide victory.

Rumours of a coup had been intensifying since military spokesman Zaw Min Tun on Tuesday refused to rule out an army takeover after alleging irregularities in the November 8 legislative elections.

Burma's powerful army, which ruled the country between 1962 and 2011, when a controlled transition to democracy began, finally rejected the possibility on Saturday and assured in a statement its commitment to upholding the constitution.

Suu Kyi's landslide election victory demonstrated her huge popularity in Burma, despite her poor international reputation for policies against the Rohingya minority, much of whom are denied citizenship and the vote, among other rights.

The alleged irregularities were first reported by the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the former government formation set up by the former military junta before it was dissolved.

The Election Commission has denied electoral fraud in the November elections, which were won overwhelmingly by the National League for Democracy, winning 83 per cent of the 476 seats in the legislature.

The USDP was the big loser in the elections, winning only 33 seats, and has refused to accept the results, going so far as to call for new elections organised by the military.

The military, which drafted the current constitution in a roadmap for a "disciplined democracy", already had great powers in the country, holding 25 per cent of the seats in parliament and the influential ministries of interior, borders and defence.