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View all search resultsThai PM perfect role model for Myanmar’s junta leader
The naming of Erywan as ASEAN’s special envoy to Myanmar is an overwhelming victory for the coup regime, the sultan of Brunei and other nondemocratic ASEAN member states.
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re you ready to bet with me that at November’s ASEAN leaders’ summit, Brunei, the host, will officially – and of course unilaterally – call Myanmar’s junta leader Gen. Min Aung Hlaing “His Excellency the Prime Minister of Myanmar”? But as gambling is unlawful in Indonesia, we cannot do it openly, although I am pretty sure I would win. From the very beginning, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has considered Gen. Hlaing’s military coup part of Myanmar’s internal affairs.
After entering mandatory military retirement last month, Hlaing, who toppled the democratically elected government on Feb. 1, appointed himself the prime minister of Myanmar. Among ASEAN leaders, Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha will be the most enthusiastic in welcoming Hlaing because he has a fanatical follower in the region now.
In a meeting with ASEAN leaders in Jakarta on April 24, Hlaing was referred to as the commander of Myanmar’s armed forces. The special meeting was cochaired by Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo. PM Prayut gave the extraordinary meeting a miss.
In their annual meeting early this month, ASEAN foreign ministers approved the appointment of Bruneian Foreign Minister Erywan Yusof as the regional group’s special envoy to Myanmar. Earlier, Gen. Hlaing announced Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Virasakdi Futrakul as the envoy. Indonesia had initially proposed its former foreign minister Hassan Wirajuda, and later Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi was ready to compromise by pairing Hassan with Viraksadi because the Thai diplomat had strong personal relations with Gen. Hlaing.
The naming of Erywan as ASEAN’s principal representative in Myanmar is an overwhelming victory for Myanmar’s military, the sultan of Brunei and other nondemocratic ASEAN member states. In this case Indonesia is practically isolated from other members.
As reported by The Guardian, in addition to appointing himself prime minister, Hlaing said Myanmar would remain in a state of emergency until the elections that he promised were held in 2023. “We must create conditions to hold a free and fair multiparty general election,” Hlaing said in a taped public statement, adding that the elections could be held in August 2023.
Hlaing was clearly inspired by his close friend Prayut. In his position as Thai Army chief, Gen. Prayut overthrew the democratically elected prime minister, Yingluck Shinawatra, in 2014. As a junta leader, Prayut ruled the country for five years and declared himself the prime minister of Thailand. He repeatedly promised to hold elections but then denied his own words later.
