Coup prompts outcry from Myanmar as Biden threatens sanctions

February 2 ------ Western leaders condemned the coup by Myanmar’s military against Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government and hundreds of thousands of her supporters took to social media to voice their anger at the takeover. In the early hours of Monday, the Myanmar army handed power to military chief General Min Aung Hlaing and imposed a state of emergency for a year, saying it had responded to what it called election fraud.

The sudden turn of events derailed years of efforts to establish democracy in poverty-stricken Myanmar, also known as Burma, and raised more questions over the prospect of how and when a million Rohingya refugees will return to the country. The U.N. Security Council will meet on Tuesday, diplomats said, amid calls for a strong response to the detention of Suu Kyi and dozens of her political allies, although Myanmar’s close ties with council member China will play into any decision.

U.S. President Joe Biden said the coup was a direct assault on Myanmar’s transition to democracy and the rule of law. “The United States removed sanctions on Burma over the past decade based on progress toward democracy. The reversal of that progress will necessitate an immediate review of our sanction laws and authorities, followed by appropriate action,” Biden said in a statement. Min Aung Hlaing, who had been nearing retirement, promised a free and fair election and a handover of power to the winning party, without giving a timeframe.

Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) party, which won a landslide 83% in a Nov. 8 election, said that she called on people to protest against the military takeover, quoting comments it said were written earlier in anticipation of a coup. But the streets were quiet overnight after troops and riot police took up positions in the capital, Naypyitaw, and the main commercial centre Yangon. Phone and internet connections were disrupted. Many in Myanmar voiced their anger on social media.

Data on Facebook showed more than 334,000 people had used the #SaveMyanmar hashtag denoting opposition to the coup, and some people changed profile pictures to black to show their sorrow or red in support of the NLD, often with a portrait of the 75-year-old Suu Kyi, the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize winner. “We as a citizen of Myanmar not agree with the current move and would like to request the world leaders. UN and the world medias help our country - our leaders - our people - from this bitter acts,” said one widely reposted message. Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other NLD leaders were “taken” in the early hours of Monday morning, NLD spokesman Myo Nyunt told Reuters by phone. U.N. human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said at least 45 people had been detained.

Source: reuters.com