Japan is “seriously concerned” that Myanmar’s regime-planned elections without the release of the country’s detained leaders could provoke “further strong backlash from the people” and “make a peaceful resolution more difficult,” Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said on Friday.

Japan once again strongly urges the Myanmar military to stop the violence immediately, release those detained, including jailed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and restore a democratic political system, Iwaya said in a statement.

Iwaya’s comment came a day after the Myanmar military lifted a nationwide state of emergency and nominally transferred power to an administration led by regime leader Min Aung Hlaing ahead of elections that are planned to begin in December.

REUTERS