The regional bloc’s diplomatic offensive would have been much more impactful had President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo turned up and addressed the annual United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York, United States – shameful for the Indonesian President.

Jokowi’s reluctance to personally address the world’s largest annual forum for the seventh consecutive time is difficult to understand because he missed an excellent opportunity to demonstrate ASEAN’s more unified stance to stop the bloodshed in Myanmar. But thank goodness, apart from Prime Minister Ismail, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen also spoke in New York and shared his experience as the rotary chair of ASEAN for this year and what he had done to bring back peace and order to Myanmar.

Some Indonesians may cynically comment that Malaysia tried to steal the show from Indonesia. Come on, men! First of all, no matter how mighty Indonesia is, ASEAN is not just about Indonesia. Indonesia is the largest member, yes, but there are nine other members.

We should be grateful for Prime Minister Ismail, who spoke on ASEAN’s behalf, and had raised substantial issues and ideas in the name of the region’s leaders.

For the first time since Gen. Hlaing toppled the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in February last year, an ASEAN leader has made it very clear that ASEAN wants the international community, especially the UNSC, to do more to end the rampant crimes against humanity in Myanmar.

Knowing its rigid “non-interference” principles, ASEAN has reached major progress in pressing the Myanmar military junta, including the exclusion of the regime from attending ASEAN’s official meetings. This progress has won international recognition, but ASEAN alone will be unable to settle the Myanmar cause.

Like it or not, the role of major powers and countries bordering Myanmar – China, India, Bangladesh and Thailand – is decisive. India, for instance, is the world’s largest democracy but is one of a few countries that recognizes Gen. Hlaing’s government. The concern about instability at the border and the interest to counterbalance China’s influence in Myanmar explains India’s policy.

Prime Minister Ismail criticized the five permanent members of the UNSC, who opted to wait and see; but when they were not satisfied with ASEAN’s actions, they could only criticize the group. The Malaysian Prime Minister implicitly criticized China and Russia, who may veto any resolutions that will compel Gen. Hlaing to stop the mass killings. I believe Prime Minister Ismail had anticipated the reactions of China and Russia to his strong criticism.

“It is very saddening when the Security Council does not take any serious actions in dealing with this situation. Some even see the Security Council as having washed its hands of handling the matter over to ASEAN,” the prime minister told the forum.

“The power of a veto is often misused to favor the world powers that have it. It is not democratic and violates the principles of human rights. This makes it impossible for conflicts to be resolved by any of the permanent members of the Council,” Ismail added.

Ismail also told his ASEAN colleagues to forget the five-point agreement Hlaing has promised to restore peace and democracy to Myanmar. “In its current form, the ASEAN five-point consensus cannot continue any longer. Therefore, this consensus needs to be given a new lease of life and refined based on a clearer framework, timeframe and end goal,” Ismail said.

Prime Minister Hun Sen, who was greeted by several protestors in front of the UN Headquarters in New York, used his opportunity as the outgoing ASEAN chair to talk about Myanmar in his speech. He was very disappointed and frustrated by the Myanmar junta’s denial of access to representatives of the toppled government, especially Suu Kyi. He was initially pro-junta but changed his mind after the humiliation.

“Indeed, the situation in Myanmar is worrisome with its direct implications on the security and stability of the whole region, but we must recognize that the crisis is complex with deep-rooted causes,” said Hun Sen.

More ASEAN members now support Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines in isolating Gen. Hlaing, but at the same time they also offered humanitarian assistance. Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha has changed his stance; so has Brunei Sultan Hasanal Bolkiah.

“All our efforts are aimed at seeking the cessation of violence, the delivery of humanitarian assistance to those in need and the pursuit of building trust among all parties concerned to enable an inclusive political dialogue, as mandated by the ASEAN five-point consensus,” said Hun Sen, who will hand over the ASEAN chairmanship to President Jokowi in November.

Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi, who spoke on behalf of President Jokowi, warned that “ASEAN must move forward and not be taken hostage by the situation in Myanmar.”

In the meantime, Singapore’s Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan also raised a new idea on Myanmar. “In the case of Myanmar, it must involve Aung San Suu Kyi, the leader of the National League for Democracy (NLD), who in our view won the election, and the military led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing,” he told Singaporean journalists in New York.

In October, ASEAN foreign ministers will regroup in Jakarta as they do not want Myanmar to become a stumbling block when ASEAN holds its summit in November. They are also expected to meet their dialogue partners from China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand and the US. While sticking to the principle of non-interference, ASEAN will likely issue the suspension of Myanmar, unless the junta shows its good will.

Malaysia has rightly internationalized the Myanmar crisis. As the next chair of ASEAN, President Jokowi should be able to unify ASEAN in dealing with Myanmar.

Myanmar's problem is very disturbing. Close cooperation among all ASEAN leaders hopefully will help the group end the plight of the Myanmar people.

 ***

The writer is a senior editor at The Jakarta Post.