Biden Threatened Sanctions on Myanmar’s Military Leaders & Pressed Them to Give Up Power

If you’ve not been watching the news lately, you might be unaware of two recent developments:

1. Scientists have discovered that naked mole rats are “xenophobic”
2. Myanmar’s military has seized control of the country and detained its leader

I’ll begin with the second issue, as it’s slightly more pressing.

On 1 Feb 2021, the day where the ruling party –  National League of Democracy (NLD) – was supposed to have a parliament sitting, the Myanmar military conducted a raid.

Several key figures, including elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, were detained.

The power to govern was then handed to military chief Min Aung Hlaing.

For their misdeeds, the country’s military force might now face sanctions from a superpower.

Biden Threatened Sanctions on Myanmar’s Military Leaders & Pressed Them to Give Up Power

US President Joe Biden threatened sanctions against Myanmar’s military generals, after they seized control of the country in a coup.

Biden said the coup was a “direct assault on Myanmar’s transition to democracy and the rule of law”, and called for a joint global response to pressure the military to relinquish control.

“The international community should come together in one voice to press the Burmese military to immediately relinquish the power they have seized, release the activists and officials they have detained”.

Biden said the US will work with their allies to “support the restoration of democracy and the rule of law” and will hold the military leaders accountable for “overturning Burma’s democratic transition”.

But why did the military seize power in the first place?

What Happened

Simply put, it’s because they believe a recent election was rife with fraud.

In Nov 2020, Ms Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, National League of Democracy (NLD), won a landslide victory in the elections, obtaining a whopping 83% of the seats in parliament.

The Myanmar military, however, alleged election fraud, saying there were duplicated names on voting lists in scores of districts.

The allegations were later dismissed after the election commission determined there were no errors big enough to affect the outcome.

Yet the military held firm in their belief that there was election fraud and threatened to go to the supreme court.

Why does this sound so… familiar?

However, instead of doing so, the military seized power of the country and detained several officials.

In addition to the election fraud, the military claims it also seized control as the government failed to postpone the elections amidst the coronavirus pandemic.

After the coup, residents reported widespread internet outages and TV channels being taken off the air.

Eased Sanctions in 2011

This is actually the third time the military in Myanmar has seized power, with the first in 1962 and the second in 1988.

For this reason, among other offences, the US had earlier imposed sanctions on Myanmar.

Then, in 2011, when Biden served as vice-president, president Obama began easing sanctions as the Myanmar military loosened its grip on the country.

And in 2016, he lifted many of the remaining sanctions.

Former president Donald Trump then imposed some targeted sanctions on four military leaders in 2019, and now, with what’s happened, his successor might follow suit.

“The United States removed sanctions on Burma over the past decade based on progress toward democracy. The reversal of that progress will necessitate an immediate review of our sanction laws and authorities, followed by appropriate action,” Biden said in a statement.

Featured Image: Matt Smith Photographer / Shutterstock.com