Indonesia should review Myanmar’s elections: legislator

One legislator says that Indonesia should lead ASEAN in reviewing the recent general elections in Myanmar, even though the country faces problems with its own general elections.

Budiman Sudjatmiko from Commission II on domestic governance, regional autonomy and the state apparatus, who is also a member of the Asian-Inter-parliamentary Myanmar Caucus (AIPMC), said the problems that Indonesia faces in certain regional elections should not stop the country from “contributing to other countries”.

Indonesia and the Philippines’ general elections procedures were comparably better than those of certain other countries in the region, he added.

Indonesia, as the future chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), should therefore support the review of Myanmar’s most recent general elections, he said, adding that as the largest democratic country in the region Indonesia had a moral responsibility to push for democracy in Myanmar.

“Together we fought against the same situation 12 years ago, so why do we have to remain silent now?” he said. (gzl)