Myanmar's formerly ruling party called Tuesday for an immediate release of leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other party figures in custody, one day after it was ousted from power in a military coup.
The calls come as U.S. President Joe Biden issued a warning that the United States may re-impose sanctions on the Southeast Asian country, with the coup ending the nation's move toward democratization less than a decade after it transitioned to civilian rule.
The U.N. Security Council is preparing to hold a closed-door online session later Tuesday to discuss the Myanmar situation.
In a statement posted on Facebook, the National League for Democracy's central executive committee, the party's highest decision-making body, denounced the coup as "tarnishing the image of the country and Tatmadaw (the military)," saying it "hampered" democratic reforms and efforts to tackle the COVID-19 pandemic.
The statement also called for the military to accept the results of the November general election and that the parliament, scheduled to convene the previous day for the first time since the election, be allowed to sit.
The military, which claims the election was marred by fraud, staged the coup after days of secret talks with NLD representatives at the end of last month fell through, according to sources with knowledge of the meeting.
The military had persistently called for a postponement of the new session of parliament, apparently aiming to buy time to look into alleged election irregularities and seek a new election, the sources said.
The secret talks began four days before the coup between two officials from the NLD, including Kyaw Tint Swe, a Suu Kyi aide, and two representatives from the military, according to the sources.
But the participants could not find a mutually agreeable solution, resulting in the talks falling through, the sources added.
Before the talks were held, a military spokesman had not ruled out the possibility of a coup if alleged election irregularities were left unaddressed. The military chief and coup leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, had also referred to the possibility of abolishing the current Constitution.
At the first meeting of his new government Tuesday, Min Aung Hlaing said he took over power because he "had no other choice," according to an official statement from the military's information service.
The statement quoted Min Aung Hlaing as saying despite making repeated requests to avoid this situation, "the takeover was inevitable," adding, "until a government is formed after the next election, the military needs to steer the country."
The NLD won the November election decisively, capturing 396 seats in the 664-seat bicameral parliament. In contrast, the military-backed main opposition, the Union Solidarity and Development Party, fared dismally.
The NLD, which came to power in 2016, was supposed to launch another government at the end of March, once the parliament session was convened.
Hundreds of people, including members of the NLD, were reportedly detained in the coup, with 75-year-old Suu Kyi put under house arrest in the capital Naypyitaw.
Local media reported that all members of the NLD who were in the capital were detained. NLD lawmakers' spouses are said to be under house arrest.
NLD information officer Kyi Toe updated Suu Kyi's condition in Facebook posts Tuesday, saying that she is still at the official residence in Naypyitaw, is in good health and has been allowed to take walks within her compound occasionally.
Late Monday, the military announced the appointment of 11 new ministers, including former officer Wunna Maung Lwin as foreign minister, the post previously held by Suu Kyi.
He was foreign minister when the military-backed party was governing from 2011 to 2016 with former Gen. Thein Sein as president.
Of the newly appointed ministers, nine have links to the military. The newly appointed include the defense and border affairs ministers, as well as the minister for investment and foreign economic relations.
Most of the ministers who are members of the NLD are believed to have been sacked.
On Monday, the military declared a state of emergency for one year, saying administrative, legislative and judicial authorities of the state had been transferred to Min Aung Hlaing.
Along with Suu Kyi, other figures such as Myanmar President Win Myint were also detained.
Myint Swe of the military-backed party, who was vice president in the Suu Kyi-led government, was named acting president.
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