IN THE WORLD TODAY

ENTHUSIASTIC crowds of tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Myanmar’s biggest city yesterday in protest at last week’s coup, demanding a return to civilian government and the release of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Their spirits were lifted by the return of internet services that had been blocked a day earlier.

Separate protests that began in various parts of Yangon converged at Sule Pagoda, situated in the centre of a roundabout in the city centre. Protesters chanted “Long live Mother Suu” and “Down with military dictatorship”.

Authorities had cut access to the internet as the protests grew on Saturday, fanning fears of a complete information blackout.

Yesterday afternoon, however, internet users in Yangon reported that data access on their mobile phones had suddenly been restored.

The demonstrators are seeking to roll back last Monday’s seizure of power by the military and secure the release of Suu Kyi and other top figures from her National League for Democracy party.

The military has accused Suu Kyi and her party of failing to act on its complaints that last November’s election was marred by fraud, though the electoral commission said it had found no evidence to support the claims. The growing protests are a sharp reminder of the long and bloody struggle for democracy in a country that the military ruled directly for more than five decades before loosening of its grip in 2012.

Suu Kyi’s government was the first led by civilians in decades, though it faced a number of curbs to its power under a military-drafted constitution.