Myanmar – Explained

Ang Sun Suu Kyi

Right now Myanmar, also known as Burma, is in a state of turmoil.

The military, led by the new leader, Min Aung Hlaing, declared a one-year state of emergency on the 1st February when they staged a coup d’etat and overthrew the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the NLD (National League for Democracy).

It is believed that Mrs Suu Kyi is being held under house arrest. The EU, UN, US and UK have condemned the takeover. President Biden threatened to reinstate sanctions on Myanmar.

China opposes international intervention and has called for all sides to resolve differences. The state Xinhua news agency called it a cabinet reshuffle. Other Southeast Asian nations, including Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines have called it an internal matter.


For many years, Aung San Suu Kyi was seen as a global icon of human rights and democracy. She won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, whilst under house arrest.
In 2015, she and her party, the NLD, won Myanmar’s first democratic election

for 25 years. She was the de facto leader of Myanmar until the 1st February when she was ousted from power by the military.

She was in detention from 1989 until 2010 and her struggle for democracy in Myanmar made her an international figure of democracy.

She is not actually the president as the Myanmar constitution forbids this due to the fact that she has children who are foreign nationals.

Her official title is State Counsellor but she maintains a close relationship with the president (until the coup), Win Myint.

She won around 80% of the vote in the 2020 election, which many claim was riddled with fraud. In the past few years, her leadership has been defined by her refusal to condemn the military crackdown of Rohingya Muslims in Rakhine state.

In 2020, 30 years after she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, she was defending her nation at the International Court of Justice in The Hague following accusations of genocide. Aung San Suu Kyi may have destroyed her international reputation, but The Lady, as she is known, still remains hugely popular.