The Burmese army has announced a state of emergency for one year and appointed a general as the temporary head of state, following the arrest of civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior officials.
In a statement through the military television channel, the army said this step was necessary to maintain the "stability" of the country. It accused the electoral commission of failing to address "massive irregularities" that occurred, as claimed, during the legislative elections in November, in which Aung San Suu Kyi's party won by a landslide. Aung San Suu Kyi was arrested in the early hours of Monday along with the president and other senior politicians after weeks of tensions with the army over allegations of vote rigging during the elections.
The statement signed by the new acting president, Myint Swe, a former general who was the vice president, stated that "the electoral commission failed to resolve the massive transgressions in the voter lists in the general elections." The statement accused "other party organizations" of "undermining the stability of the state." It added, "Since the situation must be resolved according to the law, a state of emergency has been declared."
The Myanmar army stated that it carried out the arrests in response to electoral fraud and that it would take over the management of the country for a year. For its part, the United States called on the army in Myanmar to release the detained officials. Reuters reported that the White House informed Biden regarding the military's arrest of State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, indicating that Washington would take action against those responsible for the arrests in Myanmar unless they reversed them. The U.S. State Department urged Myanmar's military leaders to release all detained officials and immediately reverse the actions taken. Meanwhile, the UN Secretary-General expressed deep concern over the transfer of all authority in Myanmar to the military.
