UN, foreign embassies sound alarm over Myanmar coup fears

More than a dozen embassies, including the US and EU delegation, yesterday urged Myanmar to "adhere to democratic norms", joining the UN in a chorus of international concern about a possible coup.

Myanmar is just a decade out of nearly 50 years of military rule, with a nascent democracy governed under a junta-authored constitution which dictates power-sharing between the civilian administration and the country's generals.

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For weeks, the powerful military has alleged widespread voter irregularities in November's election, which Aung San Suu Kyi's ruling National League for Democracy (NLD) won in a landslide.

Their call for voter list verification ramped up this week, with an army spokesman on Tuesday refusing to rule out the possibility of a military takeover to deal with what he called a political crisis.

Fears grew after army chief General Min Aung Hlaing -- arguably Myanmar's most powerful individual -- appeared to echo the sentiment Wednesday when he said the country's constitution could be "revoked" under certain circumstances.

The newly elected MPs are expected to begin sitting in parliament on February 1. The US embassy -- along with 16 countries including former colonial power Britain and the EU delegation -- released a statement yesterday urging for the military "adhere to democratic norms".