UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that he would do everything in his power “to mobilize all key players and the international community to put enough pressure on Burma to ensure that (the) coup d’etat fails ”.
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“After elections which I think have gone normally, and after a great period of transition, it is absolutely unacceptable to change the results of the elections and the will of the people”, he added in an interview with the The Washington Post daily.
Asked about the indictment of the Burmese leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the UN chief considered that “if we could accuse him of something, it is to have been too close to the soldiers, and to have them too protected ”.
“I hope democracy will make progress again in Burma, but for that to happen, all the prisoners must be released, constitutional order must be restored,” he said.
The UN Secretary General also deplored that the Security Council has not been able since Tuesday to agree on a common text, after an emergency meeting at the initiative of the United Kingdom.
According to a draft text proposed at the start of the week for negotiation and obtained by AFP, the Security Council would condemn “the military coup” and would demand the “immediate release” of those illegally detained. The Council would also demand the lifting of the state of emergency declared for one year.
On Wednesday evening, according to diplomats, negotiations continued between the 15 members of the Security Council, in particular with China and Russia who had blocked the adoption of the declaration on Tuesday.
The Burmese army abruptly ended the country’s fragile democratic transition on Monday, establishing a state of emergency for one year and arresting Suu Kyi, 75, de facto head of the civilian government, and other officials in his office. party, the National League for Democracy (LND).