Published 16:18 IST, February 28th 2021
UN ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun fired by Myanmar military for denouncing junta at UNGA
Myanmar’s military on February 27 fired the country’s ambassador to the UN, a day after he called for help to remove the army from power.
Myanmar’s military on February 27 fired the country’s ambassador to the UN, a day after he called for help to remove the army from power. While speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, Kyaw Moe Tun had urged the international community to take the “strongest possible action” to end the military rule in the country. He had called on all member states to issue public statements strongly condemning the coup.
However, on Saturday, Myanmar’s state television announced his removal saying that Kyaw Moe Tun had “betrayed the country” and spoken for an “unofficial organisation” which doesn’t represent the country. According to BBC, the state television had also said that the envoy had “abused the power and responsibilities” of an ambassador.
An official statement from the UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric, on the other hand, read that the organisation has not received any communication concerning changes to the representation of Myanmar at the UN in New York. it is worth noting that the UN does not recognise the junta as Myanmar’s new government, therefore, they still consider Kyaw Moe Tun to be still in post as the country’s UN ambassador.
Kyaw Moe Tun calls for ‘strongest action’
On Friday, Kyaw Moe had said that Myanmar needs “strongest action” to immediately end the military coup, to stop oppressing the innocent people, to return to state power to the people and to restore the democracy. He even went on to appeal for countries not to recognise the military regime or cooperate with it. He asked them to demand that the junta respects last year’s democratic elections and further urged nations to “take all stronger possible measures” to stop violent acts committed by security forces against peaceful demonstrations.
The Myanmar military overthrew the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1 and declared a year-long state of emergency hours before the newly-elected parliament was about to convene. The military accused Suu Kyi's government of rigging the November elections. Aung San Suu Kyi's party National League for Democracy (NLD) managed to win 396 of the 476 parliamentary seats of the ones that are not reserved for the military.
Updated 16:16 IST, February 28th 2021