A day after the coup in Myanmar, the calls for Aung San Suu Kyi’s immediate release are growing. Since the government takeover by the military, Burma’s de-facto leader – who led the nation’s government – has not been seen. Meanwhile, the lawmakers who were confined to Burma’s capital, have now been told by the military that they can leave.
Even though the local and international media reported no mass protests, there have been several defiances, including a strike by the country’s medical staff. In the early hours of Monday, the military seized power and imposed a year-long state of emergency after accusing Suu Kyi’s government of widespread fraud in the November elections, the second since the country’s democratic reforms in 2011.
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In a statement on Tuesday, Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) demanded their leader’s immediate release. It further called on the nation’s army to accept the election results, in which Suu Kyi’s party won more than 80 percent of the vote.
Overall, a day after political chaos in Myanmar, the country seems to be in uneasy calm. With military troops patrolling the streets in all big cities and a night-time curfew in place, most of the streets across the country remained quiet. Moreover, the communication systems that were disrupted on Monday had returned, with internet and phone services running again.
Meanwhile, to push for Suu Kyi’s release, the doctors working in the government hospitals maintained that they would stop working from Wednesday. Some doctors have also resorted to wearing signs to register their protest. BBC reported that as many as one hundred MPs detained by the military, have now said that they are free.
The power has been transferred to Commander-in-chief Min Aung Hlaing, and key eleven portfolios, including finance, interior, defense, foreign affairs, and health, were replaced. Although there have been no official statements about Suu Kyi’s whereabouts, media reports suggested that she and Myanmar’s president were being held under house arrest.
Moreover, the recent development in the South-East Asian country has attracted criticism from America. Biden indicated that Washington could reimpose sanctions. Alongside the White House, the UN, the UK, and the European Union, have also condemned the fall of a democratic regime in the country. As Myanmar had progressed towards democratization, the US had lifted the sanctions over the past decade.
Meanwhile, the neighboring China, which also opposed an international intervention in the country, urged all the factions to resolve the disputes. On the other hand, several other regional countries, including Thailand, the Philippines, and Cambodia, have described it as Burma’s internal matter.
