End of Burmese Democracy?

News of the president’s capture shuddered the world at the crack of dawn on Monday. The coup, staged by the military against Myanmar’s first democratic government, triggered memories of a past the country wrestled hard to leave behind: nearly five decades of oppressive rule under the military junta, where people lived each day in fear of their putative protectors.

But when a hugely popular political party (National League for Democracy) under Aung San Suu Kyi started gaining military credence in 2011, it was believed that Myanmar was finally headed for democracy after a long struggle with illiberalism. On 1 February, the party should have kicked off its new term in office.

Yet, the events on Monday seemed to be an unravelling of the once-promising democratic process.

Does this mark the end of democracy in Myanmar, or has it never begun?

We are now confronted with a series of questions about the situation: how it all started, why it happened, and what’s next for Myanmar. BBC breaks it all down for us here.