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UNITED NATIONS: Myanmar’s military government and the envoy sent by its ousted civilian government have released conflicting claims about who represents the country at the United Nations, officials said on Tuesday (March 2).
Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun spectacularly broke with the junta before the General Assembly on Friday in an emotional appeal for help to restore the ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
The next day, the military government said that the envoy had been fired, but on Monday Kyaw Moe Tun sent a letter to the president of the UN General Assembly to tell him that he is still in office.
“The perpetrators of the illegal coup … have no authority to repeal the legitimate authority of the president of my country,” said the letter obtained by AFP, referring to Aung San Suu Kyi.
“I therefore wish to confirm to you that I remain the permanent representative of Myanmar to the United Nations,” he added.
On Tuesday, the Myanmar Foreign Ministry sent a note verbale to the UN, also obtained by AFP, alleging that Kyaw Moe Tun had been removed.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs … has the honor to report that the state administration council of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar terminated the duties and responsibilities of Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun,” the note read.
“At present, Tin Maung Naing, deputy permanent representative ambassador, has been appointed ad interim charge d’affaires of the permanent mission,” the note added.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told a news conference that the body had received the two “contradictory” letters.
“We are reviewing those letters, where they come from and what we will do,” he said.
The United States backed Kyaw Moe Tun and praised his “courage”, with a State Department spokesman saying “we understand that the permanent representative remains in office.”
“We will continue to oppose the military coup and continue to support the restoration of the democratically elected civilian government of Burma,” the US spokesman said.
The UN accreditation and protocol committees will study the issue and then refer it to the General Assembly.
Dujarric said that UN envoy to Myanmar, Christine Schraner Burgener, who is currently in Switzerland, “is continuing her conversations with various parties on the current situation.”
On Friday, Burgener said that “it is important that the international community does not grant legitimacy or recognition to this regime,” and called on the international community to press for a return to democracy.
