Myanmar is the longest-running military power in Southeast Asia.

The country, once known as Burma, gained independence from Britain in 1948, and has been under military rule for more than 50 years in Myanmar's 73-year history.

According to observers on Myanmar, the huge influence of the military on the country's politics, state institutions and other areas is unimaginable.

There are, of course, historical reasons for the military's growing influence in its closest neighbor.

For five years since 2015, Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) has formed a civilian government, but that government or state structure has not emerged from military influence.

Like many other countries in Asia, it was under British rule and the British left power in 1948.

General Aung San, who is considered to be the founder of the country's military, led the movement against the British for Burma's independence.

Aung San Suu Kyi was assassinated by her opponents six months before gaining independence from Britain. However, since independence, the people of Burma have looked upon the army with respect, regarded as the protector of the country.

On the other hand, the conflict between the different ethnic groups in Burma started after independence.

Myanmar's military claims that its military has played a role in keeping the country united. Otherwise, the army claims, Burma would fall apart.

The Burmese military is known as the Tatamdo, and its main branches are the army, navy, and air force.

After independence, a constitutional government was established in Burma under the leadership of U Nu.

But that government got involved in various internal problems of the country from the very beginning. There was a lot of unrest in Burma at that time. The country is plagued by ethnic conflict, separatist movements, corruption and mismanagement.

To handle the situation, Prime Minister Wu called on the army to form a caretaker government.

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General Ne Win was the commander of the army, and the government was headed by him from 1958 to 1960.

A general election was held in Burma in 1960. After that election, a civilian government was re-established under Wu Nu.

But that government also failed to handle the ongoing unrest.

Capitalizing on that failure, a military coup took place in Burma two years after the election. Since then, Burma has been under military rule in various ways for almost 50 years.

Constitution and army

According to Myanmar's latest constitution, the country's army chief is his own boss. That is, he is not accountable to anyone.

In a 2017 interview with CNN, Aaron Conley, a researcher on East Asia at the Lowe's Institute in Sydney, Australia, said:

Conley said Myanmar's military is not at all willing to hand over power completely to civilian politicians.

As much as the army has given concessions, they have given just as much through the constitution adopted in 2008. The researcher thinks that the army will not give more concessions.

The 2008 constitution allocated one-fourth of the seats in Myanmar's parliament to the military.

However, not only the reservation of seats, but also three important issues of the state are in the hands of the army as per the constitution. These are the three issues - the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Ministry of Defense and the border issues.

The current constitution in Myanmar ensures the military's control over the civilian government.

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The question is, if Aung San Suu Kyi's government had been formed after receiving more than 80 percent of the vote in the last election on November 8, would that government have been able to amend the constitution? What was the possibility?

Jonathan Head, the BBC's Southeast Asia correspondent, thinks it would never have been possible for Aung San Suu Kyi to amend the constitution.

The reason for this, he said, was that the amendment of the constitution required the support of 75 per cent of the members of parliament. Since the army controls 25 percent of the members of parliament, it is not possible to amend the constitution without their support.

The internal situation of the army and the country

Macro Bunta, a researcher at the Giga Institute of Asian Studies in Germany, has studied the military rule in Myanmar.

He writes that when a civilian government in a country fails to effectively run the country, there is military intervention.

In the context of Burma, Mr. Bunta writes that the Burmese army was established six years before independence and was led by the country's freedom struggle.

As a result, he said, political attitudes among Burmese army officers and soldiers were strong from the beginning.

According to analysts, there are fears within the military that the influence of the military will diminish if politics is strengthened. That is why those who oppose the military junta have been suppressed with a strong hand.

The then military junta held a general election in 1990 in the face of a strong democratic movement. Although the NLD, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, won the election, the military generals did not hand over power to them.

How is the army maintaining influence?

Myanmar's military ruled the country directly from 1962 until 2011.

The military accounts for 14 percent of the country's total national budget.

Japan and India's relations with Burma have always been good, according to a 2001 report by the International Crisis Group. However, the situation has changed since 1988, despite some relaxation in relations with China.

China was the first country to recognize Myanmar's military government in 1988. Since then, strong ties have been formed between China and Myanmar.

In addition, joining the ASEAN Alliance has resulted in good relations between Burma and the countries of Southeast Asia. These countries have never been so vocal about military rule in Myanmar.

The report by the International Crisis Group further states that the military controls Myanmar's politics and various state institutions, as well as the country's private sector economy.

The United States and the European Union imposed an arms embargo on Burma during its direct military rule. But that did not stop the military junta from collecting weapons. At that time, the country bought arms from China and Israel.

According to observers on Myanmar, the country's military has always wanted to give the public the impression that the military is strong and in control of everything.