Myanmar Military Officially Declares Coup, Announces One-Year State of Emergency (Update)

"Transfer of Power to the Supreme Commander"

Commander-in-Chief of the Myanmar military, Min Aung Hlaing
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The Myanmar military officially declared a coup d'?tat on the 1st (local time).

According to foreign media including AFP, Myanmar military TV announced on the day, "A state of emergency has been declared for one year." The military added, "Detention measures have been implemented in response to election fraud," and "Power has been transferred to Commander-in-Chief Min Aung Hlaing."

This confirmed the detention of senior government officials including State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, as previously reported by the ruling party National League for Democracy (NLD) spokesperson.

The NLD, led by Suu Kyi, a symbol of Myanmar's democratization movement, won a landslide victory in the 2015 general election, ending 53 years of military rule since Ne Win's coup in 1962. The NLD also secured 83.2% of the total elected seats in last November's general election, opening the 'second term of civilian government.'

However, the military has consistently raised suspicions of election fraud since immediately after the election, claiming that the voter list differs from reality by about 8.6 million people. In particular, on the 26th of last month, military spokesperson Major General Zaw Min Tun did not rule out the possibility of a coup at a press conference, saying, "The military will comply with the law according to the constitution," escalating political tensions.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.