Myanmar is back under military rule after a coup staged by Myanmar Military in February, 2021
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| [Myanmar military coup 2021/Europeans24] |
Myanmar is back under military rule after a coup deposed constitutionally elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and her cabinet on February 1st of this year.
The junta declared a one-year state of emergency, during which time Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the head of Myanmar's military, known as the Tatmadaw, would lead the government.
Protests erupted throughout the country as a result of the coup. Thousands of civilians have been killed as a result of the military's bloody crackdowns.
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Myanmar began transitioning to democracy in 2011 after nearly 50 years of military rule, ahead of historic elections in 2015. The country was governed under a power-sharing agreement between the civilian and military governments.
But how did the Burmese military grow so strong that it was able to ignore superpowers?
More than 130 ethnic groups make up Myanmar's population. It was formerly known as Burma and became a British colony in the 19th century before being annexed by Imperial Japan during World War I. During this period, ethnic tensions deepened, and many ethnic groups took up arms in order to establish an independent state for themselves.
Internal divisions existed when Burma gained independence in 1948 and formed its military. The army was small and dispersed at the time. Its leaders came from various ethnic groups, each with their own political allegiances.
However, shortly after independence, a series of insurgencies galvanized the military, allowing it to consolidate control. The military began to consolidate its command structure, bringing the three branches of the armed forces under a single unified command.
Burma's democratically elected government was deposed by the military in 1962, and the military has held power ever since. Burma's enterprises and factories were nationalized, and opposition was suppressed.
However, systemic corruption and Tatmadaw-imposed economic policy reforms led to a major crisis in 1988. When demonstrations erupted across Burma, Suu Kyi rose to prominence as the face of the opposition, joining the National League for Democracy (NLD).
The state, as usual, used a bloody crackdown to overthrow democratic movements.
The name of the country was changed from Burma to Myanmar in 1989. The NLD won a landslide win in the 1990s election a year later, but the military overturned the results and put Suu Kyi under house arrest for the next 15 years.
Myanmar did not begin democratic reforms until 2011, after the international community placed economic sanctions on the military government. Despite promises of democratic elections under a power-sharing agreement, the junta maintained its grip on power.
A constitutional referendum in 2008 mandated that military personnel occupy 25% of Myanmar's parliamentary seats. It also kept hold of the defense and interior ministries, as well as important cabinet positions.
In Myanmar, the military also has major commercial interests, which are controlled by two conglomerates:
1. Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited and
2. Myanmar Economic Corporation
Myanmar held a historic election in 2015, in which Suu Kyi and her NLD party swept to victory. However, the military maintained effective control over the region. In November 2020, the NLD won another election. The Junta's ally, a rival political faction, feared the worst.
The coup was staged by the military a few months later, in February 2021. The military has stated that it will keep full control for a year. Myanmar's democracy, on the other hand, is in jeopardy.
International pressure is building on the Junta to hand over power and allow the newly elected government to take its place. But the Junta has so far resisted, raising fears that Myanmar's fledgling democracy will be overthrown and replaced by military rule once more.