Myanmar: The Causes and Affects of the Military Coup

Rohin Dhaliwal (G9)

Published Issue 3 2020-2021

Topical

Myanmar: The Causes and Effects of the Military Coup

Coups are sudden, violent overthrows of an existing government by small groups. They are typically led by a powerful leader who has the support of a military body. Historical examples include Mussolini’s overthrow of the Italian democratic government and Napoleon’s removal of the Directory after the French Revolution. However, these events can still take place in the modern world.

After gaining independence from British colonial rule in 1948, Myanmar has struggled to attain and maintain a democratic government; periods of dictatorship and totalitarianism have riddled the country’s history. In fact, representative democracy only lasted from Myanmar’s founding in 1948 to its first coup in 1962, when General U Ne Win took over governance and ruled for 26 years. Win’s socialist policies crippled Myanmar’s economy, leading to corruption, high rates of inflation, and food shortages. After the General’s resignation in 1963, he was replaced by another faction and the period of oppressive military rule continued.

Hope was sparked in 1990 when Aung San Suu Kyi campaigned to restore democracy. A Nobel Peace Prize recipient, Suu Kyi endured a total of almost 15 years in detention between 1989 and 2010. After each arrest she would persist, often continuing to organize protests whilst under house arrest. Her efforts were aided by the Saffron Revolution in 2007, in which thousands of monks rose up against the military. Eventually, the totalitarian government was abolished. Then, in 2015, Suu Kyi led her party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), to a landslide victory in Myanmar’s first fully-democratic election after the removal of the old government. The NLD won the next election in 2020 by an even larger margin, but this time their opposition, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), disputed the results.

In the elections Myanmar’s parliament reserved 25% of its seats for military members. The USDP won many of these seats because soldiers were intertwined into its ranks. Nonetheless, they still lost last year’s election, winning only 33 of the 476 available seats (the NLD won 396). While it is unknown if USDP members actually believed their own allegations of voter fraud, they were quick to threaten the NLD; on January 27 Military Chief Min Aung Hlaing warned that “the constitution shall be abolished, if not followed”. Then, during the morning before the parliamentary confirmation hearing on February 1st, Hlaing detained Suu Kyi and seized power. Since then, the military has led with strict authoritative rule. Because of the sudden turn from democracy to totalitarian dictatorship, protests have taken place all over the country. Demonstrators have been met with resistance, at times even being fired on by the police.

To make matters worse, ongoing clashes between ethnic groups have continued. The Rohingyas are a Muslim minority group who have been consistently abused by Myanmar’s military in recent years. The military’s widespread violence and rape have been classified as actions with “genocidal intent” by the UN. Even during Suu Kyi’s governance, thousands of Rohingya Muslims were slaughtered. However, she had repeatedly rejected allegations of genocide upon questioning, even defending the military at some points. Now, the violence continues, with Hlaing capitalizing on intra-ethnic conflicts to maintain control over large groups of people.

Suu Kyi was definitely a flawed leader who may need to be held accountable for the slaughter of Rohingyas during her time in office. Though, her removal from government has led Myanmar into an even darker period. Just last Sunday, the Myanmar military murdered at least 18 and wounded 30 at protests across the country. Over 1000 arrests are estimated to have been made on that day. Events like this took place have become commonplace in Myanmar and the armed forces have not hesitated to fire upon their fellow citizens; a U.N. report stated, “Deaths reportedly occurred as a result of live ammunition fired into crowds in Yangon, Dawei, Mandalay, Myeik, Bago and Pokokku”. At this point, based on Myanmar’s history, one can only assume that another extended period of military rule has begun.