RI wants Suu Kyi to contest election

Tony Hotland ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Thu, 02/28/2008 11:29 AM  |  Headlines

RENEWABLE ENERGY: Germany's foreign minister and Vice-Chancellor Frank-Walter Steinmeier (left) and Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda address a joint media briefing in Jakarta on Wednesday. (JP/J. Adiguna)

Indonesia wants Myanmar to allow detained pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi to participate in the military junta's planned referendum and elections in order to make the process credible and inclusive, Foreign Minister Hassan Wirayuda said Wednesday.

"Our concern is ... to allow the participation of groups including Madam Suu Kyi, (her) NLD party as well as minority groups," Hassan said after meeting his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier.

Myanmar has told the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) its new constitution, slated for referendum in May, would in essence bar widow Suu Kyi from running in elections because she married a foreigner.

Suu Kyi married British-born Michael Aris, who died of cancer in 1999, and her two sons have British nationality.

But Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy (NLD) has insisted Suu Kyi's family has unrivaled national credentials because her father, Gen. Aung San, gave his life to lead the struggle for independence from Britain.

If approved, the constitution would clear the way for elections in 2010 -- the first since NLD won by a landslide in the 1990 polls, which the junta never recognized.

Hassan said Indonesia welcomed Myanmar's decision to allow UN special envoy Ibrahim Gambari to return in the first week of March, which would be his third visit to promote reconciliation.

"We support Gambari's mission," Hassan said. "But Myanmar being a member of the ASEAN family, we see the importance of ASEAN to engage so we can assure the process they are undertaking now can result in a solution acceptable to the international community."

Analysts have, however, sneered at such a speech by citing less than considerable results out of ASEAN's approach to one of its youngest members.

Washington on Monday slapped new economic sanctions against businesses and individuals linked to the junta. Recruiting sanctions against Myanmar is a move Indonesia has reviewed as ineffective because the junta was accustomed to living in isolation.

Germany held the European Union presidency last year and said Myanmar remained an issue of concern shared by EU nations.

"We place hope on the UN mission led by Gambari and insist that (Myanmar's) political partners, including China in Asia, should bring their influence toward democracy," Steinmeier said.

Myanmar's key ally, veto-wielding China has resisted attempts at the UN Security Council to take action against the junta.

National Mandate Party's lawmaker Djoko Susilo, who heads the House caucus on Myanmar, said he supported the inclusion of Suu Kyi in the elections and called for a concerted push by ASEAN to make it happen.

"If ASEAN is unified to press Myanmar on this, I think it will happen. Myanmar's reason for banning Suu Kyi makes no sense and ASEAN must oppose it," he said.

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.