Myanmar Coup

The tremendous progress Myanmar has made to establish democracy in the past decade was wiped out on the dawn of February 1st, 2021 when the military staged a “coup”, commonly known as a “junta”. Myanmar, formally known as Burma is a country a decade out of harsh military rule. Elections, democracy, a thriving economy, Myanmar was growing, until it was hurled into an Orwellian nightmare. A “coup” refers to the illegal removal or seizure of government, by an opposing faction. Similarly, a “junta” refers to a military group exerting force and control over another country to achieve political ends. In Myanmar, the military detained members of the democratic party, as the National League for Democracy (NLD), seized control of infrastructure, blocked internet access, restricted freedom, leaving the country into the hands of the military once again.

Myanmar has been politically unstable since it gained independence from British colonial rule in 1948. During the time period of 1962 to 1988, Myanmar was under the Burma Socialist Programme Party’s one system, totalitarian rule. This party was led by General Ne Win. General Ne Win was the commander of Myanmar’s armed forces - the Tatmadaw, he believed that the people did not have the strength to hold the country together and implemented a one party system. Under General Ne Win’s rule, Myanmar fell even deeper into economic recession with unsustainable government debt which was exacerbated by putting the country into economic isolation. The meager amounts of money the country had left was used to aid and expand the military, while citizens suffered in poverty. In 1988, Myanmar’s economy declined drastically. Corruption was widespread, black markets, and underground crime groups were everywhere. Dissatisfied and vexed with seeing Myanmar constantly on the brink of collapse, students across Myanmar rallied together to protest against the military rule. The series of protests in 1988 were known as “The August 1988 uprising”, dubbed the “8888 Uprising”. What started out as a small-scale protest turned into mass demonstrations that brought hundreds and thousands of monks, students, children, and teachers together, marching on the streets and demanding democratic elections. As a result of the overwhelming cries for democracy and for his removal, General Ne Win ultimately stepped down, promising that multi-party elections will happen. However, on September 18th, the State Order and Restoration Council orchestrated a coup, leading to a day of bloodshed. Sources report that thousands of people lost their lives due to the coup, but Myanmar puts that number at 350. General Ne Win’s promise for the nation was never truly fulfilled.

Aung San Suu Kyi also became Myanmar’s national icon during this time. Not only was she Myanmar’s icon, but a worldwide figure in the struggle for democracy and Human Rights, taking home the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991. She is the daughter of Myanmar’s Aung San, who led Myanmar’s release from British colonial rule. What made Aung San Suu Kyi stand out was how she pushed for democracy without resorting to violence and conflict. Her background and speeches resonated with the Myanmar public. With a firm belief towards establishing a democratic nation in Myanmar, she formed the National League for Democracy. In 1990, the National League of Democracy was founded by Suu Kyi, but the junta refused to accept Aung San Suu Kyi’s party. As a result, she was put under house arrest multiple times as attempts by the government to silence her. Aung San Kyi was placed in house arrest for 15 years over a 21 year period. However, being under house arrest did not suppress her desire to see a democratic Myanmar.

The military’s attempts to silence her only made the blood of Myanmar’s youth boil even more. The people were tired of being under military control again. The lack of economic growth and rising gas prices only fueled the fire. However, marred with scars from the 1988 Uprising, the Myanmar people were scared to take action. Following Aung San Suu Kyi’s idea of nonviolent resistance, youth and monks protested peacefully. However, things turned ugly once the military captured 3 peaceful monks. In retaliation, young monks captured 3 more government officials and held them hostage, demanding an apology. Crackdowns followed suit with military officials

Following the 2007 Saffron Revolution which garnered international attention, general elections were held throughout the country. The military junta stepped down in 2011 after the 2010 General Elections in order to smoothly transfer power from the military to the citizens. The 2010 elections marked the beginning of a peace in Myanmar as they were under elected officials, Aung San Suu Kyi’s and the National League for Democracy’s (NLD) rule. The members from the NLD barely outnumbered those from the military. Furthermore, Aung San Suu Kyi has also continued to defend military abuse against the Rohingyians and restricted press freedoms leading to global controversy. In the eyes of Myanmar’s citizens, she is still an idol who led them to democracy.

Recently in 2020, another election was held and the NLD won in a landslide. The military-aligned Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) won 33 of 476 available seats, while the NLD won 396. Due to the sudden drop in power, the military claimed that the election was fraudulent and staged a coup. Expressing dismay with the election results, protestors rallied against the outcome of the election. On February’s 1st, the day before the Parliament of Myanmar, the coup started arresting and detaining several officials including state chancellor, Aung San Suu Kyi. The junta subsequently blocked phone lines, TV stations, created internet blackouts, and suspended banks. Many soldiers from the major leaders of the Saffron Revolution and the 8888 Uprising were also arrested. The military announced a state of emergency, allowing Army chief Min Aung Hlaing to temporarily take over for a one year. At the same time, the UN Security Council failed to take any significant action as talks between key countries are still in place. to maintain ‘stability’. This was followed by the shutdown of other platforms such as Twitter and Instagram. This dealt a major blow to morale as online platforms were how protesters shared information with each other and the outside world. These were then followed by an entire internet blackout. The internet blackout, a classic example of dictatorship, suppressed the people’s freedom of speech and left the outside world with no information on Myanmar. After the blackout, tens of thousands of people began to take to the streets and protested. On the 7th, the internet is restored while social media remains blocked. The blocking of social media left many citizens of Myanmar in the dark. A protester named Phyo said “These are just symptoms of the old dictatorship. They just want everyone to stay in the dark. They don’t want anyone to be able to facilitate knowledge, to be updated”. As all protests before the internet blackouts were organised online, the constant blockage of information exhausted and scared the citizens of Myanmar.

According to an interview conducted by Asian Boss, which was uploaded on the 16th of February, documented citizens’ first reactions to the coup as a mix of disbelief, hopelessness, and horror. For adults, the biggest impact was not being able to know what was happening in the outside world, and not being able to communicate with relatives. Whereas, students were worried about their opportunities to study overseas and the loss of scholarships. Many mentioned waking up at 8am to bang pots and pans as an act of defiance against the military. However, as time passed by, the civilian death toll ramped up significantly, leading Myanmar citizens to plead for humanitarian and United Nations’s intervention for assistance.

There were mixed international reactions to the Myanmar coup. The G7 countries have been slow to condemn the coup, while others have urged for global intervention by all countries. Myanmar’s neighbouring country, India, has expressed concerns and support for democracy. However, they have not taken any immediate action in hopes of establishing stronger economic ties with Myanmar. China insisted that ‘all parties in Myanmar will properly handle their differences under the constitution and legal framework to maintain political and social stability’. ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations remains divided as Thailand, Cambodia, and the Philippines noted that the Myanmar coup was their ‘internal affairs’ and their internal affairs only, hinting towards their reluctance to interfere. China, Myanmar’s biggest trading partner and investor, was more focused on keeping the country stable than reinstating democracy. The United Nations have also held conferences over this issue, and what was discussed is still majorly confidential. However, the United Nations Security Council has a resolution and statement under works. The statement will either condemn or disapprove of the coup, and the resolution will include next steps countries will take. Even though the resolution has not been finalised, major economies, the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union have all placed sanctions on Myanmar.

Without international efforts to end the coup, Myanmar citizens will continue to be under military rule. The military is relentless and different countries are divided in the ways they want to act and interfere. In the future, countries could come together to defend Myanmar citizens and to condemn the coup. This will increase pressure onto the military, and steps such as foriegn aid stepping in could help reinstate democracy. The profound difference between people and their motives is what makes the Earth diverse. Ethinic minority groups have come together with the public in defiance of the military. In order to prevent a bloodbath on the streets of Myanmar, we have to come together as well and intervene before it’s too late.