Army detains Myanmar’s ruling party leader Aung San Suu Kyi
Myanmar's ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been detained by the country's military.
She was detained during an army operation on Monday (February 1), BBC reported.
The army detained NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Minn on Monday morning, NLD spokeswoman Mayo Neonat told Reuters.
The spokesman urged the people to react according to the law without being agitated.
Their detention has created a tense situation between the civilian government and the military. An army coup is being feared.
Suu Kyi's party, the NLD, won enough seats to form a government in the November election. However, the military alleges that Suu Kyi's party won the election by rigging the election. Top NLD leaders, including Suu Kyi were arrested in the operation.
The newly elected lower house of parliament was scheduled to meet for the first time on Monday. The army, on the other hand, called for a suspension.
A BBC correspondent reports that army patrols have been spotted in the capital Naypyidaw and on the streets of the capital, Yangon. Telephone and internet lines have been cut off in Naypyidaw.
Until 2011, Myanmar was ruled by the military. Aung San Suu Kyi spent years under house arrest from 1989 to 2010. Then in 2015, the NLD won a landslide victory in the general election, ending the military and army-backed government in Myanmar for more than half a century.
What happened in the November 7 election?
Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the NLD, won a landslide victory in the November 8 national election. While 322 seats are enough for a majority in parliament, the NLD has won 346 seats which is about 83 percent of the total seats. The army-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), meanwhile has refused to accept the results, accusing it of rigging the vote and calling for fresh elections. Even they filed a complaint in the Supreme Court against the President and the Election Commission. However, Myanmar's election commission has called the vote rigging baseless. Since then, there have been fears that the army could come to power through a coup.