The UN expressed concern Tuesday over the dissolution of ousted Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), by Myanmar's military junta.

“This is another step in the direction that we would not like to be going into,” UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

'”We want to see a return to democracy in Myanmar. We would like to see the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other people who continue to be detained, and we will continue to work towards that.”

The military set a deadline in January for political parties to re-register under a new electoral law and dissolved 40 parties Tuesday, including Suu Kyi's NLD, for failing to meet the registration deadline.

The NLD won a majority of seats in the November 2020 elections.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military overthrew Suu Kyi's government on Feb. 1, 2021. (Anadolu Agency)

•PHOTO:A portrait of deposed leader of Myanmar Aung San Suu Kyi, detained in Myanmar since 1 February, following the military coup, hangs on the side facade of Palazzo Nuovo in Piazza del Campidoglio, seat of Rome's town hall in Rome, Italy, on March 16, 2021.( Riccardo De Luca - Anadolu Agency )