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Time for ASEAN to reconsider its decision-making process
ASEAN seems to have demonstrated its commitment to trying to address the lingering problem of Myanmar by crafting the Five-Point Consensus.
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Tears of freedom: A woman hugs her relative after being released by the authorities from Insein Prison in Yangon, Myanmar, on Aug. 1, 2023. (AFP)
I
n his parliamentary reply in March 2023, Malaysian Foreign Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir said the conflict in Myanmar had to be resolved collectively by ASEAN so that it would not become a regional flash point.
He also stressed that no ASEAN nation should attempt to resolve the issue unilaterally and that ASEAN needed to adhere to the Five-Point Consensus (5PC).
The 5PC was attached to the statement by the ASEAN chairman in conjunction with the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting held on April 24, 2021, in Jakarta. Pursuant to the 5PC, ASEAN seeks to resolve the Myanmar fiasco.
To its credit, ASEAN clearly expressed its profound concern about the situation in Myanmar, including reports of fatalities and escalation of violence in the aforesaid ASEAN’s chairman statement.
In the 5PC, ASEAN, inter alia, seeks a peaceful solution in the interests of the people and in turn shall facilitate mediation of the dialogue process, with the assistance of the ASEAN secretary-general.
Under international law, seeking to resolve any international issues or disputes via peaceful means is strongly encouraged. In fact, we may say that was the reason for the establishment of the United Nations.
The principle that states shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means simply denotes they have to find ways of resolving the problems in such a manner that international peace and security and justice will not be endangered.
