ISLAMABAD: A spokesperson for the Pakistan foreign office called for “restraint’ as Myanmar’s military seized power on Monday in a coup against the democratically elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Suu Kyi was detained along with other leaders of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party in early morning raids.
The army said it had carried out the detentions in response to “election fraud,” handing power to military chief Min Aung Hlaing and imposing a state of emergency for one year, according to a statement on a military-owned television station.
“We are closely following the developments in Myanmar,” the Pakistani foreign office said. “We hope that all parties involved will exercise restraint, uphold the rule of law, engage constructively, and work toward a peaceful outcome.”
The coup derails years of Western-backed efforts to establish democracy in Myanmar, also known as Burma, where neighboring China also has a powerful influence.
The generals made their move hours before parliament had been due to sit for the first time since the NLD’s landslide win in a November 8 general election viewed as a referendum on Suu Kyi’s fledgling democratic rule.
Phone and Internet connections in the capital, Naypyitaw, and the main commercial center of Yangon, were disrupted and state television went off air after the NLD leaders were detained.
