'This is simply tragic,' says Daw Maw Maw.
The Bistandsaktuelt publication asked Myanmar's ambassador to Norway what she thinks about the scenes playing out in her homeland and about the military's violence against young protesters. We are sitting in a sterile meeting room behind the Norwegian parliament, Storting, in Oslo. Daw Maw Maw considers the question, and responds:
'It's very painful because our country had been moving in the right direction over the past decade. Myanmar was more relaxed, more open - people were talking to each other again.
The ambassador says that she has worked in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 1983 and has seen the developments in Myanmar from the inside.
'After 2010, we actually became part of the international community. There's no doubt that the democratisation process has been slow, but it was ongoing. And we then ended up in this tragic situation. We were supposed to be communicating with each other, but we never managed to achieve that on this occasion, so the military leadership thought that a coup was the right course of action. But that was completely wrong.'
'Why was it wrong?'
'This is 2021. It's ethically reprehensible to seize power from those who are democratically elected by the people of Myanmar. If irregularities were suspected in the election process this should have been tested in a court of law, as is done in a democracy. They should never have seized power.'
'Do you support the CDM in Myanmar?'
'Why is that important?'
'I'm wondering if you support the people's right to express themselves, to demonstrate, and the protection of basic human rights?' 'Of course.'
'But who do you represent in Norway?'
'I represent Myanmar and am sticking to that. If I express support for the CDM, it's goodbye to this job.'
'Were you given
