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[COMMENTARY] Initiating an ASEAN mini summit on Myanmar
In coping with the Myanmar crisis, a special meeting initiative is very unlikely to receive a positive response from other ASEAN foreign ministers.
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Protesters hold placards and flowers during a demonstration against the military coup in Yangon, Myanmar, on Sunday. (AFP/Ye Aung THU)
Y
ou may roar with laughter if I insist that last week’s meeting between President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo and his guest, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, could serve as an effective moment for ASEAN to prove to the world its crucial role in pressing Myanmar’s junta to restore civil supremacy. You may have a long list of reasons to support your argument that ASEAN will fail, but I bet you will be wrong.
Why do I dare to predict that the military junta’s rule will not last long? Because of its track record, especially in abusing minorities, including the Rohingya Muslims.
President Jokowi and PM Muhyiddin instructed their foreign ministers, Retno LP Marsudi and Hishammuddin Hussein respectively, to organize a special ASEAN meeting on Myanmar. First and foremost, they were asked to work with Brunei as the rotating chair of the regional grouping this year. Normally, a chair will invite other ASEAN members for a meeting.
In April or May, ASEAN leaders will gather for their first summit, and regroup for the second and larger summit in November – the East Asian Summit, with the attendance of dialogue partners: the United States, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand and India.
In coping with the Myanmar crisis, a special meeting initiative is very unlikely to receive a positive response from other ASEAN foreign ministers. Thailand will be the first to oppose any attempt to question the legitimacy of Myanmar’s junta, because Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha himself assumed power through a military coup. Cambodia and the Philippines have also displayed reluctance, saying the coup in Myanmar is “an internal affair”.
To avoid a deadlock, I suggest Foreign Minister Retno to emulate Soeharto, the country’s second president. Soeharto often called some fellow ASEAN leaders for a limited and informal summit to discuss specific issues that directly concern them. Such a “mini summit” would be attended by the leaders of Singapore, Malaysia and Brunei. Countries in the Mekong Delta, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, Laos and Cambodia, also quite often held separate leaders’ meeting that excluded Indonesia, because the latter had no interest in the delta development.
The same mechanism could be adopted if ASEAN wants to help Myanmar solve the political crisis. Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei should be part of the mini summit, as they face demands domestically for an end to the suffering of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar. The three countries could involve Singapore, which has invested a lot in Myanmar.
