Myanmar is in a state of emergency, with the military once more seizing power. The military insisted this was a response to accusations of fraud in the elections. Aung San Suu Kyi has once more been detained along with other senior officials. It appears that the military wants to overturn the results of the general election and impose resurrect the military dictatorship. This is not the first time this has happened. The National League of Democracy did win the general election back in 1990. The military then launched a coup. The NLD became the ruling party of the country starting in 2015. They had a majority of seats in parliament. The military claims it will hold on to power for one year. Similar to Thailand, the military has large amounts of influence over government. The experiment in developing a democratic system that began in 2011 appears to be coming to an end. Myanmar already has ethnic conflict and might be on the brink of civil war. The return to military rule will certainly cause some from of reaction from the public. This could either take the form of mass demonstrations or armed resistance. There are multiple armed groups in the country either fighting the military or seeking to create independent states. Myanmar may require a federal system to address issues related to regional and racial tensions. The Rohingya crisis demonstrates that just having elections or democratic government does not eliminate oppression. The NLD allowed the military to wage war on an ethnic group, because it could have cost them politically with the Buddhists in the Rakhine state. The only way the military regime will be defeated is through unified action of all ethnic groups and regions. However, political and ethnic divisions may be too vast to form coordinated mass resistance .
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