Biden Threatens Myanmar with US Sanctions Over Army Takeover

By Staff, Agencies

US President Joe Biden has made a statement warning that America could reinstate sanctions on Myanmar in light of the military takeover in the country.

Myanmar's military detained National League for Democracy Party [NLD] leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other officials on 1 February, citing fraud concerning the NLD's recent landslide election win.

Biden's statement on Monday said "the international community should come together in one voice to press the Burmese military to immediately relinquish the power they have seized, release the activists and officials they have detained, lift all telecommunications restrictions, and refrain from violence against civilians".

Recalling that Washington had removed sanctions on Myanmar over the past decade based on its "progress toward democracy", the president added:

"The reversal of that progress will necessitate an immediate review of our sanction laws and authorities, followed by appropriate action".

Joe Biden emphasized that "force should never seek to overrule the will of the people or attempt to erase the outcome of a credible election". The US president concluded the statement by underscoring:

"The United States will stand up for democracy wherever it is under attack".

On 1 February, Myanmar's Tatmadaw declared a year-long state of emergency and arrested National NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other top government officials. Army chief Min Aung Hlaing's office declared that action was taken in response to alleged voter fraud during the 8 November elections and the military would hold a "free and fair general election" after the emergency is over.

The NDL had won a landslide victory, sweeping up 396 out of 476 seats in the combined lower and upper houses of parliament, leaving the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party [USDP] trailing behind.

The Tatmadaw insisted that the NLD had rigged the elections, citing 10.5 million cases involving irregularities, Myanmar's Election Commission has been dismissing the claims as groundless. Myanmar's new parliament was due to convene for its first session on Monday.

Aung San Suu Kyi urged the country's population to oppose the military's move, denouncing it as "an attempt to bring the nation back under the military dictatorship without any care for the COVID-19 pandemic people are facing".

"We urge people to strongly oppose the unacceptable military coup. The people themselves are the most crucial", said the Nobel Peace Prize laureate in a statement posted on the NLD's Facebook page, confirmed by a spokesperson.