UN Myanmar envoy: coup has not succeeded

Tokyo, May 28 (EFE).- The military coup in Myanmar has not been successful, the UN special envoy on Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener said Friday, highlighting that there is no stable military dictatorship.

Schraner insisted that “all-inclusive” dialogue is crucial to reach a peaceful solution, and that dialogue does not mean surrendering to the junta or legitimizing the coup.

“As long as the people are on the street fighting for their rights, having civil disobedience and they don’t go back to work, then the coup has not successfully ended,” the diplomat told a press conference in Tokyo, where she met Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Toshimitsu Motegi.

Schraner has spent two months in Bangkok to maintain contact with regional actors, but is not allowed into Myanmar by the junta.

She welcomed support from any country willing to participate in a multilateral dialogue to “bring peace to Myanmar.”

The UN envoy warned of a civil war if no peaceful solution can be found, amid demonstrations and public official strikes, economic collapse and growing violent opposition to the Tatmadaw, the armed forces of Myanmar.

She avoided acknowledging as legitimate the National Unity Government, formed in response to the Tatmadaw’s coup, adding that it is up to each UN member state to decide which side it recognizes.

The military takeover and the ensuing violence forced Schraner to abandon “silent diplomacy” she advocated for in the past years as a UN special envoy, forcing her to condemn the violence alongside UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

The diplomat said junta leader Min Aung Hlaing is willing to talk, and that she had a long conversation with the general on April 24 in Yakarta, during the ASEAN Summit on Myanmar.

She called for the military to comply with the 5-point consensus reached at the summit, including the immediate end to violence against civilians and a constructive dialogue among all parties concerned with ASEAN mediation.