Hostname: page-component-5cf477f64f-fcbfl Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-03-31T09:01:49.141Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The February 1, 2021 Coup d'Etat in Burma: Some Reasons Why

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Donald M. Seekins
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The Army-State, which had ruled Burma with an iron fist between Ne Win's March 1962 coup d'état and the initiation of a hybrid civilian-military government after the General Election of November 2010 and the convening of the Union Parliament (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw) in early 2011, has been resurrected. Burma's “transition” to democracy is finished, despite the promises of the new junta's leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, to hold new elections in 2022. Burma's tragic history of military control is a kind of alphabet soup: starting with the BSPP (Burma Socialist Programme Party) in 1962, the SLORC (State Law and Order Restoration Council) in 1988, the SPDC (State Peace and Development Council) in 1997 and now, finally, the SAC (State Administrative Council), Min Aung Hlaing's sad contribution to decades of misrule and under-development. This article explains the factors leading to the coup despite the powerful role of the military in the earlier government.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 19 , Issue 6 , March 2021 , e5
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

References:

“Another Bloody Day in Myanmar: at least 28 protesters slain by Military.” 2021. The Irrawaddy, March 3, accessed 03-04-2021.Google Scholar
Beech, Hannah. 2021. “Myanmar's Military deploys digital arsenal of repression in crackdown.” The New York Times, March 1, accessed 03-03-2021.Google Scholar
Beech, Hannah. 2021a. “‘She is a hero’: in Myanmar's Protests, women are on the front lines.” The New York Times, March 4, accessed on 03-05-2021.Google Scholar
Beech, Hannah and Nang, Saw. 2020. “'This is not democracy: Myanmar prepares for a troubled election.” The New York Times, November 6, accessed 11-20-2020.Google Scholar
Carter Centre. 2021. “Election Observation Mission: the Myanmar General Election.” November 8, accessed on 12-08-2020.Google Scholar
“Chairman of Myanmar's Buddhist Authority urges negotiations to end post-Coup crisis.” 2021. The Irrawaddy, February 19, accessed on 03-01-2021.Google Scholar
“Criticized, Myanmar's Influential Monk close to coup leader breaks his silence on killing protesters.” 2021. The Irrawaddy, March 5, accessed on 03-07-2021.Google Scholar
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor. 1991. Crime and Punishment. London: Penguin Classics.Google Scholar
Gladstone, Rick. 2021. “U.N. says 38 people killed in ‘bloodiest day’ since Coup began.” The New York Times, March 3, accessed on 03-04-2021.Google Scholar
Human Rights Watch. 2020. “Myanmar Election Commission lacks transparency: safeguard minority voters' rights.” October 28, accessed on 12-10-2021.Google Scholar
Moe, Kyaw Zwa. 2020. “A Few Predictions for Myanmar's Upcoming Election.” The Irrawaddy, October 9, accessed 11-22-2020.Google Scholar
Thanegi, Ma. 1998. “The Burmese Fairytale.” Far Eastern Economic Review, February 19.Google Scholar
Macan-Markar, Marwaan. 2021. “China treads lightly on Myanmar coup with billions at stake.” Nikkei Asia, March 5, accessed on 03-11-2021.Google Scholar
Zin, Min. 2020. “Myanmar still loves Aung San Suu Kyi, but not why you think.” The New York Times, November 23, at accessed on 12-01-2020.Google Scholar
Morris, Peter. 2021. “Japan struggles to have it both ways on Myanmar.” Asia Times, March 2, at accessed on 03-07-2021.Google Scholar
“Myanmar Military Chief's warnings raise spectre of post-election chaos.” 2020. The Irrawaddy, November 4, accessed on 03-04-2021.Google Scholar
“Myanmar's 2020 Election Results in Numbers.” 2020. The Irrawaddy, November 11, accessed on 11-20-2020.Google Scholar
“Myanmar's NLD rejects Military's call for Proportional Representation System.” 2021. The Irrawaddy, March 4, accessed on 03-08-2021.Google Scholar
Lwin, Nan. 2020. “”‘I can see the UEC does not want elections in Rakhine,‘ Japanese envoy to Myanmar says.” The Irrawaddy, December 4, accessed on 12-10-2020.Google Scholar
Regan, Helen. 2021. “Streets of Blood in Myanmar town as UN fears ‘crimes against humanity.’” CNN, March 12 accessed on 03-13-2021.Google Scholar
Aung, San Yamin. 2021. “Woman shot by Myanmar police during anti-coup protest declared brain dead.” The Irrawaddy, February 10, accessed on 02-11-2021.Google Scholar
Seekins, Donald M. 2011. State and Society in Modern Rangoon. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Seekins, Donald M. 2017. Historical Dictionary of Burma (Myanmar). 2nd edition. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.CrossRefGoogle Scholar