United States Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken condemned reports that the Burmese military took control of the country and detained important leaders – including Aung San Suu Kyi, its de facto leader – and asked the military to “reverse these actions immediately “.
Myawaddy TV, which is controlled by the military, announced the acquisition and cited a section of the draft military constitution that allows the military to take control in times of national emergency. The presenter said the reason for the acquisition was partly due to the government’s failure to act on the military’s allegations of electoral fraud in last November’s election and its failure to postpone the election because of the coronavirus crisis. The state of emergency was declared a year ago.
ARCHIVE – In this May 6, 2016, archive photo, Aung San Suu Kyi, on the left, the Myanmar Foreign Minister, walks with General Min Aung Hlaing, on the right, the Myanmar military commander-in-chief, in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. (Photo by AP / Aung Shine Oo, Archive)
The National League for Democracy, led by Suu Kyi, said in a note obtained by Reuters that those in the country should reject military actions.
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“The actions of the military are actions to bring the country back under the dictatorship,” says the statement. “I ask people not to accept this, to respond and protest wholeheartedly against the military coup.”
Jen Psaki, the White House press secretary, said the United States is “alarmed” by the news from Burma. President Biden was informed of the outcome of the situation by National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan.
“We continue to affirm our strong support for Burma’s democratic institutions and, in coordination with our regional partners, we urge the military and all other parties to adhere to democratic norms and the rule of law and to release detainees today,” he said. she. She said the United States “will take action against those responsible” if the measures “are not reversed”.
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The acquisition is a sudden reversal of the partial but significant progress towards democracy that Myanmar has made in recent years, after five decades of military rule and international isolation that began in 1962. It would also be shocking to fall to Suu Kyi, who he led the fight for democracy despite years under house arrest and won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. The BBC said the country was ruled by the military until reforms began in 2011. The report said that the military did poorly in the November elections and Suu Kyi’s party did “even better than in 2015”.
The military, however, maintains that its actions are legally justified, although Suu Kyi’s party spokesman, as well as many international observers, said it was a coup. The commander-in-chief of the armed forces, General Min Aung Hlaing, would be in control of the country. ABC News reported that he is accused of human rights abuses against the Rohingyas.
Thant Myint-U, a historian from Myanmar, told the New York Timesm that the country’s doors have just opened to a “different, almost certainly darker future”.
“Myanmar is a country that is already at war with itself, flooded with weapons, with millions who can barely feed themselves, deeply divided in religious and ethnic terms,” he said. He continued, “I’m not sure if anyone will be able to control what comes next.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report