(NYTIMES) - Myanmar's decade-long experiment in conditional democracy just ended in a textbook example of a coup - a coup that was a pre-emptive strike.

In the early hours of Monday, as the new national Parliament was scheduled to convene for its first session, the military, known as the Tatmadaw, announced that it was taking over, alleging fraud during the last general election in November. It arrested Daw Aung San Suu Kyi - formally the State Counsellor, but really the country's de facto leader - as well as other senior officials and a handful of prominent political and social figures.