"little over a week after the Myanmar military seized power and arrested Aung San Suu Kyi and dozens of other ministers and activists, a counter-movement has taken hold across the country. The military’s efforts to thwart the spread of demonstrations – by the downing of internet connections and by use of intimidation and violence, including the shooting of one protester, Mya Thwe Thwe Khine, this week – have been in vain. Mass gatherings have spread from cities in the centre to far-flung towns in the north-east, close to the border with China. Against lines of armed riot police, protesters have so far held their ground. Aung San Suu Kyi remains in detention, her location unknown. The charges she faces – among them possession of illegally imported walkie-talkies – are clearly a ruse intended to prolong her confinement while the military finds a way to stymie her popular influence. On Tuesday night, police raided the headquarters of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party, whose landslide win in elections in November set in motion the train of events that led to the military’s coup. It is likely they were looking for evidence to incriminate other party members, or indeed criminalise the party altogether, in an attempt to weaken its organising power. Upon seizing power, the military declared a year-long state of emergency, which it hopes will give it space to develop a strategy for control of the country well into the future. In that time, the generals may seek out ways to condition Aung San Suu Kyi and her colleagues – via negotiation, incentives or threat – into becoming a less assertive political force. Otherwise they will move to banish the party from formal politics altogether. The NLD’s dramatic win in November 2020 was evidence both of the continued emboldening of its support base, despite repeat efforts by the military to undermine Aung San Suu Kyi during her five years as state counsellor, as well as the glaring unpopularity of the military, whose party won only 33 of 476 seats..."