'We stand with people': US raises concern over ban on public gatherings in Myanmar

The United States on Monday voiced its concern regarding the Burmese military's recent announcement restricting public gatherings in the country, saying it stands with the people of Myanmar and support their right to assemble peacefully. The United States Department of State also demanded the full restoration of the democratically elected government in Myanmar, which was recently overthrown by the military in a coup. The US government is also looking at the possibility of enacting policy measures against Myanmar should the military not change its course.  

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"We stand with the people of Burma, support their right to assemble peacefully, including to protest peacefully in support of the democratically elected government, and the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, to receive, to impart information both online and offline. We’re of course very concerned about the military’s recent announcement restricting public gatherings. As I said before, we strongly support the right of all individuals – in Burma and around the world – to freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly, including for the purposes of peaceful protest," US State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a briefing on Monday. 

The Burmese military banned gatherings in the country after people, for the third consecutive day, took to the streets to protest the ousting of the government by the military leadership.  

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The coup

The Burmese military overthrew the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on February 1, a day before the new members of parliament were scheduled to take the oath. The military accused Suu Kyi's government of rigging the recently held elections, in which her party National League for Democracy (NLD) won by a landslide. Suu Kyi's party managed to capture 396 of the 476 parliamentary seats that are not reserved for the military. Experts suggest that the military feared Suu Kyi, with a larger majority than in 2015, would try and reduce the number of parliamentary seats reserved for the military.

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Prior to the 2020 election, Suu Kyi had promised to decrease the proportion of seats reserved for the military. The Burmese Army currently controls 25% percent of the parliamentary seats, on which the civilian parties cannot fight elections. Myanmar has been controlled by the military for the most part of its independent years since the 1950s. The military decided to let go of the control in 2011 after a revolution by the civilian population struck the country. However, the military helped draft the constitution and it withheld certain controls, including a proportion of seats in the parliament. 

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