Myanmar military declared a state of emergency on Monday and said power had been transferred to army chief Min Aung Hlaing.  (Photo: Ye Aung Thu/Pool via Reuters)

Naypyitaw, January 31 (RHC)-- Myanmar’s military has taken power and declared a state of emergency after detaining civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other senior government officials in a series of early morning raids that followed days of escalating tension over the outcome of the November election in which the ruling party won by a landslide.

A video address broadcast on military-owned television said power had been handed to the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

Myo Nyunt, the spokesman for the governing National League for Democracy (NLD) said earlier on Monday, that Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other leaders had been "taken" in the early hours of the morning.  “I want to tell our people not to respond rashly and I want them to act according to the law,” he said.

Myanmar’s Parliament, where the military is given a quarter of seats and wields more power through its proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), was due to open in the country’s capital Naypyitaw from Monday.

Politicians from states and regions, as well as prominent political activists were also detained, while mobile and phone networks were seeing disruption.  State media was also reported to be off-air.