Martial law could give the government the power to restrict public demonstrations, regulate the media, suspend elections, and oblige citizens to carry out "socially necessary" tasks such as working at a defence facility, local media report.
Kennedy had been his main carer and suspended election campaigning following his death.
When returns showed Ríos Montt winning an absolute majority, the government abruptly suspended election reports, brazenly manipulated the results, and finally announced that Laugerud García had won a plurality of votes.
But, in the same period, parliament has been suspended, elections postponed and dissenting voices increasingly silenced.
Second, pro-Thaksin parties are clear beneficiaries — unless the military responds by suspending elections or banning pro-Thaksin parties, as has been rumored.
Suspending elections, even in the midst of war, was wrong, even if holding the election would have resulted in Lincoln's defeat and therewith the cause of the Union.
Readers might be surprised to note that the book claims Indira Gandhi declared a state of emergency rule, censoring the press and suspending elections, in 1977, which was when it was lifted.
They have packed the courts with loyalists, blocked opposition lawmakers from taking their seats, overturned laws that the president opposed, suspended elections and even tried, unsuccessfully, to dissolve the legislature altogether.
But Bolsonaro's order coincides with a growing campaign to present the coup as a "democratic revolution" that saved Brazil from communism – rather than the start of a far-right regime that suspended elections, censored the media, executed hundreds of opponents and tortured thousands more.
In Chad, President Idriss Déby has suspended elections until further notice, rousing the ire of civil society groups.
