State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, other leaders of Myanmar ruling party arrested

State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior leaders from the ruling party of Myanmar National League for Democracy (NLD) have been detained in an early morning raid. Quoting the spokesperson of the NLD Myo Nyunt, Reuters reports that along with Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other leaders have also been ‘taken’ in the early hours of Monday morning.

The detention comes hours before the first meeting of the newly elected parliament was to begin on Monday. The official Myanmar News agency had announced that the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the parliament Pyithu Hluttaw will be elected on the first day of the session starting on Monday.

The official TV Channel of Myanmar MRTV announced on Facebook that ‘radio and TV are unable to broadcast due to communication difficulties’. Mobile phone services have been cut off in Naypyitaw, reports Irrawaddy news.

However, no official



statement  or announcement has been made by the government or the military on this issue till morning of Monday.

Aung San Suu Kyi took over as the head of the civilian government in 2015 after a long period of military rule in Myanmar. The National Elections held on Nov.8  saw a massive victory for NLD with the military supported Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) performing poorly. However, USDP challenged the outcome alleging mismanagement and lack of transparency. It called for re-election.

In view of the rising tension between the civilian government and the military Tatmadaw over legitimacy of the Nov. 8 election results, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and 17 Western Embassies in Myanmar had issued a statement earlier this week, urging all to adhere to democratic norms and for the peaceful convening of the parliament to elect the President and the Speakers.