UN Security Council to hold emergency meet over Myanmar coup

• Be N By IAS, Delhi
• 02, Feb 2021

For : GS-2: International relations, International institutions, Politics of developing countries affecting India’s interests

CONTEXT:

Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward is this month’s council president and said Monday that the council will look at “a range of measures” to

• Uphold the Nov. 8 presidential election won by Aung San Suu Kyi’s party and
• Secure the release of the Nobel peace laureate and other leaders arrested by the military.

MYANMAR COUP:

BLOODLESS MILITARY COUP IN MYANMAR:

Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi was detained, along with her ally President Win Myint, and other senior leaders early on Monday, 1 February, following a military coup in the country.

Myanmar's military seized power on Monday in a bloodless coup, detaining democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other top politicians -- sparking an international outcry.

Landslide Victory by NLDP: Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party won November elections in a landslide.

• but the military now claims those polls were tainted by fraud.

Suu Kyi's Party v. Military backed party: The NLD, in fact, pulled off a better performance than it did in 2015, while the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), the NLD’s primary Opposition, fared rather poorly.

One Voice of International Community: UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said: "What is important is that the international community speak with one voice."

UNITED NATIONS REACTION:

Serious blow to democratic reforms: The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Tuesday on the military coup in Myanmar, which Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called “a serious blow to democratic reforms” in the Southeast Asian nation.

UN Sanctions: Woodward says “at the moment, we don’t have specific ideas on measures.” At the U.N., that often means sanctions.

No information about Leaders: U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric says the world body has been unable to contact officials in the capital and has no information on those being held.

Military action v Rohingya Crisis: Dujarric said the U.N. fears the military action “may make the situation worse” for:

• Estimated 600,000 Rohingya that remain in northern Rakhine state,
• Including 120,000 people “who are effectively confined to camps.”

AUNG SAN SUU KYI:

• Suu Kyi came to power as state councilor in 2016 after the country’s first fully democratic vote in decades.
• Her ascension to leadership was seen as a critical moment in the transition of Myanmar to democracy from military dictatorship.
• Suu Kyi is the daughter of the country’s independence hero General Aung San.
• She spent more than 15 years under house arrest.
• Her time in detention made her an international icon, and she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991.

UNITED NATIONS SECURITY COUNCIL:

• The Security Council is one of the UN’s six main organs, and is aimed at maintaining international peace and security.
• The UNSC has 15 member and five of them — US, UK, Russia, China and France — are permanent members, who have veto rights.
• Non-permanent members: The ten elected or non-permanent members have a tenure of two years.
  • At present, the non-permanent members are Estonia, India, Ireland, Kenya, Mexico, Niger, Norway, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Tunisia and Vietnam.
  • They do not have veto rights. o Critics call them a toothless grouping because they cannot assert their will on any matter of international concern, merely persuade or dissuade other member states from acting in a certain way.

Source: Hindustan times

MCQs:

Q. Which of the following statements is/are correct regarding Aung San Suu Kyi.

1. She is the daughter of the country’s independence hero General Aung San.
2. She spent more than 15 years under house arrest.
3. She was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991

Select the correct answer using the code below.

• a) 1 and 2 only
• b) 2 and 3 only
• c) 1 and 3 only
• d) 1, 2 and 3

ANS: D