The UN Security Council diplomats said, amid calls for a strong global response to the military’s latest seizure of power in a country blighted for decades by army rule. The coup followed a landslide win for Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) in November. 8 elections, a result the military has refused to accept citing unconfirmed allegations of fraud. The army handed power to its commander, General Min Aung Hlaing, and imposed a state of emergency for a year, crushing hopes the poverty-stricken country is also known as Burma was on the path to a stable democracy. The NLD’s executive committee demanded the release of all detainees “as soon as possible”.
In a post on the Facebook page of senior party official May Win Myint, the committee also called for the military to acknowledge the election results and for the new parliament to be allowed to sit. It has been due to meet on Monday for the first time since the election. U.S. President Joe Biden called the crisis a direct assault on Myanmar’s transition to democracy and the rule of law and said his administration would watch how other countries responded.
Myanmar’s National League for Democracy party called for the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other detained leaders on Tuesday, a day after the military staged a lightning coup, ousting her from power. The US Embassy in Myanmar issued a ‘security alert’ as the road to the international airport in Yangon, the country’s biggest city, was closed till today.
“There is potential for civil and political unrest in Burma, and we will continue to monitor the situation,” it said, using Myanmar’s former name. The US State Department earlier issued a statement saying it was “alarmed” by a military takeover. China said it was still gathering information about Monday’s developments in Myanmar. The party of Myanmar’s detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi called on Tuesday for her immediate release and for the junta to recognise her victory in the November elections. A day after a military coup sparked global outrage. The United States threatened to reimpose sanctions on Myanmar’s general’s if they seized power and arrested Suu Kyi and dozens of her allies in dawn raids on Monday.
