Pakistan closely monitoring 'developments' in Myanmar

ISLAMABAD: The Foreign Office of Pakistan said on Monday it is closely monitoring developments in Myanmar where military today seized power in a coup against the democratically elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Responding to media queries, spokesperson Zahid Hafiz Chaudhri said: “We are closely following the developments in Myanmar.”

“We hope that all parties involved will exercise restraint, uphold the rule of law, engage constructively, and work towards a peaceful outcome.”

According to Reuters, Myanmar’s military seized power today in a coup against the democratically elected government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who 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. A military spokesman did not answer phone calls seeking further comment.

Phone lines to the capital Naypyitaw and the main commercial centre of Yangon were not reachable, and state TV went off air hours before parliament had been due to sit for the first time since the NLD’s landslide election win in November, viewed as a referendum on Suu Kyi’s fledgling democratic government.