Myanmar’s UN ambassador, who strongly opposed the military coup in his country, insists that he remains the permanent representative to the UN, but the Burmese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed the UN that the ambassador has been terminated and his deputy is in charge.
The dispute over who is recognized as Myanmar’s UN ambassador — the representative of the generals who carried out the Feb. 1 coup or of the ousted democratically elected government — is under discussion and could end up in the UN General Assembly, where all 193 UN members have seats.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Tuesday confirmed that the UN received two “contradictory” letters, and is reviewing them to see who is the UN ambassador and whether the assembly’s Credentials Committee should get involved.
Photo: Reuters
“We are in a very unique situation we have not seen in a long time,” Dujarric said. “We are trying to sort through all the legal, protocol and other implications” and are “trying to resolve things as quickly as possible from our end.”
The first letter from Burmese Ambassador to the UN Kyaw Moe Tun — sent on Monday to UN General Assembly President Volkan Bozkir with a copy to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres — states that he was appointed by Burmese President Win Myint “who was then and remains the lawfully elected president of Myanmar,” and by Burmese State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi on Sept. 4 last year.
“The perpetrators of the unlawful coup against the democratic government of Myanmar have no authority to countermand the legitimate authority of the president of my country,” Kyaw Moe Tun said in the letter. “I wish therefore to confirm to you that I remain Myanmar’s permanent representative to the United Nations.”
The second letter to the UN secretary-general from the Burmese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which Dujarric said was received on Tuesday, makes no mention of the military coup.
Dated on Sunday, the letter tells Guterres that the Burmese State Administration Council “terminated the duties and responsibilities” of Kyaw Moe Tun on Saturday last week and no longer recognizes his accreditation to the UN General Assembly.
The council said that Burmese Deputy Ambassador to the UN Tin Maung Naing has been assigned as the charge d’affaires of the UN mission.
In his dramatic speech to a UN General Assembly meeting on Myanmar on Friday last week, Kyaw Moe Tun appealed for the “strongest possible action from the international community” to restore democracy to the country.
Tomorrow, the UN Security Council is expected to hold a closed meeting on the latest situation in Myanmar, council diplomats said on condition of anonymity ahead of an official announcement.
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