The Club de Madrid strongly condemns the coup d’etat by the military in Myanmar and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of President Win Myint, State Counselor Daw Aung Sang Suu Kyi, members of government, of the National League for Democracy (NLD) and of civil society activists who have been detained. We call for the military to respect the results of the recent parliamentary elections and for the re-establishment of the democratic transition process.
The November 2020 elections once again showed the support of Myanmar citizens for the National League for Democracy led by Club de Madrid Honorary Member and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. These results should be respected in observance of the Constitution of 2008 that the military committed to respect and uphold and the civilian government and the elected parliamentary bodies urgently restored.
The overthrow of the government through this military coup is a serious setback for the transition to democracy started in the country only 10 years ago, inflicting profound damage to its still weak democratic institutions. Restoring the democratically elected government and parliament is the only way for Myanmar to confront the significant challenges it is facing not only in its fight against the steady rise in COVID 19 cases but in the unresolved dramatic situation of the Rohingya and the crisis in the fundamental peace process.