Members of Myanmar parliament still confined after military coup
Hundreds of members of Myanmar's parliament remained confined inside their government housing in the country's capital on Tuesday, a day after the military staged a coup and detained senior politicians including Nobel laureate and de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, meanwhile, released a statement calling for the military to honour the results of last November's election and release all of those detained.
"The commander-in-chief seizing the power of the nation is against the constitution and it also neglects the sovereign power of people," the party said in a statement on one of its Facebook pages.
One legislator said he and some 400 members of parliament were able to speak with one another inside the compound and communicate with their constituencies by phone, but were not allowed to leave the housing complex in Naypyitaw. He said police were inside the complex, with soldiers outside.
The legislator said the politicians, comprised of members of Ms Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party and various smaller parties, spent a sleepless night worried that they might be taken away, but were otherwise OK.
"We had to stay awake and be alert," said the politician, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The takeover took place on the morning politicians from across the country had gathered in the capital for the opening of the new parliamentary session and followed days of worry that a coup was coming.
The coup is a dramatic reversion for Myanmar, which was emerging from decades of strict military rule and international isolation that began in 1962.
It now presents a test for the international community, which had ostracised Myanmar while it was under military rule, then enthusiastically embraced Ms Suu Kyi's government as a sign the country was finally on the path to democracy. US President Joe Biden threatened new sanctions, which the country had previously faced.
On Tuesday in Yangon, the country's biggest city, the streets were quieter than usual but taxis and buses were still running and there were no outward signs of heavy security.
The military has maintained its actions are legally justified – citing a section of the constitution it drafted that allows it to take control in times of national emergency.
The coup was met with international condemnation and many countries called for the release of the detained leaders.
Britain is prepared to suspend "indirect support" it provides to Myanmar following the military coup in the south-east Asian country, the Foreign Office has said.
Mr Biden called the military's actions "a direct assault on the
country' s transition to democracy and the rule of law" and said Washington would not hesitate to restore sanctions.
"The United States will stand up for democracy wherever it is under attack," he said.
UN Secretary-general Antonio Guterres called the developments a "serious blow to democratic reforms", while the Security Council will hold an emergency meeting on the military's actions.