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ASEAN gives Myanmar nod for 2014 chairmanship
ASEAN leaders decided on Thursday to make Myanmar the ASEAN chair in 2014, a decision welcomed by the opposition party led by the country’s democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi
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SEAN leaders decided on Thursday to make Myanmar the ASEAN chair in 2014, a decision welcomed by the opposition party led by the country’s democracy icon, Aung San Suu Kyi.
US President Barack Obama, however, expressed concerns over human rights problems in the military-dominated country.
Line of leaders: President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (fifth left) stands with (right to left) Myanmar’s President Thein Sein, Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Tun Abdul Razak, Laotian PM Thongsing Thammavong, Brunei Darussalam’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, Cambodian PM Hun Sen, Vietnamese PM Nguyen Tan Dung, Thai PM Yingluck Shinawatra, Singapore’s PM Lee Hsien Loong and the Philippines’ Presidential spokesperson Ramon A. Carandang, at the opening ceremony of the ASEAN Summit in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Thursday. JP/RICKY YUDHISTIRA
“The decision has been made. It is now formal, and we all anticipate and we all will be looking at how the preparation of the chairmanship will be undertaken by Myanmar,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa told a press briefing after the closing of the summit.
He said the necessary preparations went far beyond physical infrastructure, and included the approach the country would take to its role as chair nation.
The party of Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi welcomed the expected endorsement of the ASEAN leaders, Reuters reported from Yangon, saying it would boost political change in the reclusive state.
“Their decision is tantamount to encouraging the present Myanmar government to step up the momentum for reforms,” Nyan Win, a senior official in Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, told Reuters.
“I think that Myanmar’s political activities will become more vibrant after assuming the chair, and Myanmar will also become a quality member of ASEAN.”
In her interview with the Indonesian media, the Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra also welcomed Myanmar’s chair, saying it would be good for the country’s democracy and ASEAN as a whole.
“For Myanmar, one of ASEAN’s focuses is political security, and in my visit to Myanmar we saw a lot of development. As for the standpoint of Thailand, we support Myanmar as the chairman of ASEAN, including the support for the development of Myanmar,” she said.
But Obama cautioned that Myanmar, also known as Burma, still needed to demonstrate improvements in human rights in his first remarks since the authoritarian regime freed hundreds of political prisoners in October and vowed more reforms in the weeks ahead.
“Some political prisoners have been released. The government has begun dialogue. Still, violations of human rights persist,” Obama said in a speech to the Australian parliament as quoted by Reuters before joining Asian leaders in Bali for an East Asia Summit.
“So, we will continue to speak clearly about the steps that must be taken for the government of Burma to have a better relationship with the United States.”
Marty said that by giving Myanmar the chance to chair ASEAN, the grouping was trying to ensure that the momentum of democratization in Myanmar was maintained, as it would put a bigger spotlight on the country, requiring it to be more open and transparent.
Rights activist Hendardi, however, warned that ASEAN’s decision could be used by Myanmar’s junta to show the world that they have been democratized and to avoid international pressure while doing little to improve human rights.
