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ASEAN awaits the appointment of envoy to Myanmar

The slow deliberation process has again raised the question of the bloc’s commitment to dealing with the political aftermath of a military coup launched against the elected civilian government on Feb. 1, as the risk for regional instability looms large.

Dian Septiari (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, May 17, 2021

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ASEAN awaits the appointment of envoy to Myanmar

M

ore than three weeks since the unprecedented ASEAN Leaders' Meeting, where member countries agreed on how to deal with the bloody crisis in Myanmar, the chair of the bloc has yet to name its envoy to the conflict-ridden country.

The slow deliberation process has again raised the question of the bloc’s commitment to dealing with the political aftermath of a military coup launched against the elected civilian government on Feb. 1, as the risk for regional instability looms large.

On April 24, six Southeast Asia leaders gathered for the first time since the start of the pandemic in the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, where they met Myanmar’s coup leader Min Aung Hlaing, to discuss the situation “as a family”.

In the meeting, they reached a five-point consensus on the political and humanitarian crisis in the country. Out of the five points, the military junta is responsible for stopping all forms of violence and deescalating tension. The leaders also agreed that a special envoy should be appointed to facilitate mediation, with the assistance of ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi.

Read also: ASEAN leaders have reached consensus on Myanmar crisis: Jokowi

President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said on Saturday he had talked with several leaders, including Brunei Darussalam Sultan Hasanal Bolkiah, who as the chair of ASEAN this year, has to name his envoy to Myanmar.

In the conversation, Jokowi said, without actually revealing whether or not they discussed the future envoy, he followed up on the results of the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting, which he had initiated as previous regional attempts to engage with Myanmar’s military, known as the Tatmadaw, fell on deaf ears.

While several names for the envoy position, including former foreign minister Hassan Wirajuda, have been publicly suggested by some media outlets in Southeast Asia, which quoted anonymous sources, questions remained on whether the Myanmar military would agree with the appointment.

The special envoy, once appointed, is likely to work for a long period of time in facilitating the peace process between the junta’s State Administration Council (SAC) and the newly formed National Unity Government (NUG), as well as the civil disobedience movement and various ethnic armed organizations in Myanmar.

The NUG's minister of international cooperation, known as Dr Sasa, said the envoy should be someone who could listen to the voice of the Myanmar people and was willing to engage with the government of the people of Myanmar and accept the reality on the ground.

“If we have an envoy from ASEAN who fails to listen to the people of Myanmar and reject the word and the voice of the people of Myanmar, it's not going to work. it will be a waste of time,” he said.

Read also: Myanmar junta says seeks stability before allowing ASEAN envoy visit

Once appointed, the envoy should visit Myanmar, but the coup government has said in a statement that it was still prioritizing “the security and stability” of the country before such a visit could happen.

“Only after we achieve a certain level of security and stability, we will cooperate regarding that envoy," Kaung Htet San, a spokesman for the military council, said as reported by Reuters.

Jakarta-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) senior researcher Rizal Sukma said that in addition to appointing an envoy, Brunei should also prepare an action plan for the cessation of use of force, the delivery of humanitarian assistance and an all-inclusive dialogue in Myanmar.

Furthermore, he said there should be a compliance mechanism, especially on the cessation of violence, as well as various informal consultations with various stakeholders.

“The visit will make sense only after these tasks are actually carried out by the [ASEAN] chair; otherwise, it will be difficult to specify what objective the ASEAN wants to achieve in its visit to Myanmar before appointing an envoy, or before plans for implementation were put on the table.”

Read also: Indonesia calls for Myanmar-led dialogue on crisis

Rizal further suggested that a visit to Myanmar could pave the way for the delivery of humanitarian assistance, which would later be coordinated by ASEAN’s humanitarian agency the AHA Center.

The envoy, he said, should be leading a task force on Myanmar that could monitor the cessation of the use of force and coordinate the delivery of aid. 

ASEAN should also explore the possibility of working with various United Nations agencies, particularly the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, as well as members of the East Asia Summit, Rizal added.

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