In an interview with FRANCE 24, Christine Schraner Burgener, the UN special envoy on Myanmar, held out hope that the military would not brutally crack down on the ongoing mass protest movement against the February 1 coup. She also called for "targeted sanctions" on leaders of the regime and said she had asked them to allow her to visit the country, a request they have rejected "for the moment".
Asked about the miltary junta's plans going forward, the UN diplomat said the army "have a clear roadmap ... to hold [a] new election to give power back to the party who will win the election. Honestly I think they have a clear textbook [for] how they will lead such an election because they started to arrest people from NLD (the National League for Democracy of ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi). At the end they will probably ban this party to run for the next election ... Clearly they want to stay in power and this we have to avoid."
Schraner Burgener also gave an update on the situation of Suu Kyi, despite not being able to speak to her directly. The UN special envoy was told by military officials that the ousted leader was "peacefully" at home. "I want to meet her as soon as possible," she added.
