The Myanmar military has reportedly detained Aung San Suu Kyi and other members of her ruling National League for Democracy party in a coup attempt that climaxes rising tension between the military and the civilian government of the former Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
Mrs. Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other senior political leaders were arrested in an early Monday morning raid, the Reuters news agency reported. The apparent coup follows rising rancor among senior generals after a military-backed party did so poorly in national elections in November.
Phone lines and other communications links into the remote new capital of Naypyitaw were not working Monday. The national legislature, which was heavily dominated by Mrs. Suu Kyi’s supporters, was set to begin a new session Monday before the arrests, and witnesses told Reuters that soldiers had also been stationed outside government buildings in the former capital of Yangon.
Mrs. Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize for her long campaign against military rule in Myanmar, despite heavy persecution and decades of house arrest. Her efforts were rewarded in 2015 when her party swept to power, but the military has remained an independent force in the country’s political life and often chafed at her leadership.
Military leaders had complained of widespread fraud in November’s election, but the country’s election commission dismissed those claims.
Barred by law from running for president, Mrs. Suu Kyi serves as Myanmar’s “state counselor,” equivalent to a prime minister.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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