Myanmar coup: junta leader calls for end to protests in first official address as sanctions loom

Protests spilled into a sixth straight day on Thursday, including a civil disobedience effort urging civil servants to boycott work

Joe Biden on Wednesday approved an executive order for new US sanctions over the coup, and repeated demands for the generals to give up power

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A protester holds up a defaced portrait of junta chief General Min Aung Hlaing at a rally against the military coup in Naypyidaw on Thursday. Photo: EPA

Published: 12:12pm, 11 Feb 2021Updated: 9:23pm, 11 Feb 2021

Myanmar’s new junta leader on Thursday called on civil servants to return to work and urged people to stop mass gatherings to avoid spreading coronavirus, as a sixth day of protests against him and his coup spanned the Southeast Asian country

As Washington moved a step closer to imposing sanctions on Min Aung Hlaing and his fellow generals, Britain said it was also considering measures it could apply to punish the February 1 takeover that halted an unsteady transition to democracy.

The coup and the detention of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi along with scores of others have prompted the biggest demonstrations since a 2007 “Saffron Revolution” that ultimately became a step towards democratic reforms.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing addressed the protests for the first time in public, blaming “unscrupulous persons” for work stoppages in a growing civil disobedience movement by doctors, teachers, railway workers and many other government employees. “Those who are away from their duties are requested to return to their duties immediately for the interests of the country and people without focusing on the emotion,” he said.

In a statement issued by the army’s information service, he also urged people to avoid gatherings, which he said would fuel the spread of the coronavirus.

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