President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo should not feel embarrassed by the failure because the Myanmar junta leader, Gen. Min Aung Hlaing, will never be willing to realize his promise to implement the Five-Point Consensus (5PC) anyway. The military junta is known for its track record as a murderous force with no hesitation to kill civilians in order to cling to power and access to wealth. So let us move on.

Given his successful time in charge of the Group of 20 last year, hopes abounded that Jokowi would repeat the same magic when assuming the ASEAN chairmanship this year. Such oversimplification has been proven wrong. We have probably underestimated the complexity of Myanmar, a nation that was used to living in seclusion for decades.

Zin Mar Aung, the foreign minister of the National Unity Government (NUG), the representative of Suu Kyi's government in exile, teasingly, if not desperately, told ASEAN the crisis in Myanmar was just one of the issues the bloc had to confront.

In her statement she warned the people currently fighting the brutal regime in Myanmar against expecting too much from ASEAN. She also criticized the regional grouping for not doing enough to help the poverty-stricken people of Myanmar.

Voice of America interviewed her after the end of the ASEAN foreign ministers meeting and her encounter with dialogue partners in Jakarta last week, when the Myanmar issue was tabled. The event saw the act of betrayal of the outgoing Thai regime, which tried to sabotage the Indonesia-led mission on Myanmar.

In Mar Aung's view, ASEAN is now facing regional issues such as rising tensions in the South China Sea, and the development of the Indo-Pacific, where ASEAN is trying to play a central role amid increasing armed competition to control the two oceans.

Major nations, such as the United States, wanted ASEAN to take the lead in addressing the issue, which will prevent direct confrontation between big powers in Myanmar, where the military junta continues the killings and its scorched earth policy.

"The Myanmar issue is simply one of several for world powers and ASEAN members," Mar Aung said. 

ASEAN should support and let the NUG and other factions take the leading role in the efforts to bring peace back to Myanmar. Unfortunately, Indonesia still hesitates to recognize the NUG, citing factionalism in the opposition group.

Beyond Myanmar, ASEAN has several urgent agendas to deal with, including the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP), the world's largest trading bloc. It covers 30 percent of the world's GDP, 27 percent of the world's trade, 29 percent of the world's direct investment and 29 percent of the world's population.

In their joint communique, ASEAN foreign ministers reaffirmed their commitment to the RCEP's full and effective implementation in all aspects, which will strengthen the regional supply chain and contribute to the ASEAN economic integration agenda. 

"We also reaffirmed our commitment to establishing the RCEP Support Unit within the ASEAN Secretariat, which could gradually transition into a standalone RCEP Secretariat," they said.

The RCEP gives Indonesia a chance to bring the trade bloc’s permanent secretariat to Jakarta. The reason is that Jakarta is the de-facto capital of ASEAN as manifested in the hosting of the ASEAN Secretariat. This ambition, of course, needs extra energy.

It is probably too bitter and diplomatically incorrect to say that Indonesia should not feel too obsessed with Myanmar and let the loyal followers of Suu Kyi act more independently. Remember, she refused to visit Indonesia and Malaysia due to suspicion that the two predominantly Muslim countries were pro-Rohingya Muslims, the minority ethnic group that has endured long-standing persecution by the Myanmar military. 

Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, fiercely defended the military from accusations of committing crimes against humanity in the International Court of Justice in late 2020. In February 2021, Gen. Hlaing ousted and jailed her, accusing her of corruption and abuse of power. She paid dearly for her pro-military stance.

In a media briefing before hosting the ASEAN foreign ministerial meeting last week, Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi tried hard to respond to the criticism of a lack of progress by ASEAN under Indonesia in addressing the Myanmar crisis.

She said her mission as the special envoy of ASEAN had communicated 110 times with all related parties in Myanmar, including former Myanmar leader Gen. Than Swee. 

Apart from the NUG, and the Tatmadaw (military), Indonesia has also engaged relevant political parties, including the Ethnic Resistance Organizations (EROs) rebel group. But what have been the results? Nothing. Minister Retno should not feel disappointed about the unexpected outcome of Indonesian diplomacy. We can take pride in the RCEP as a hallmark of our diplomacy. Indonesia contributed a lot to the formation of the RCEP in November 2020, although it was the latest ASEAN member to ratify the trade pact in November last year.

ASEAN has a moral responsibility to protect the Myanmar people from the military’s crimes against humanity. But Indonesia should not be obsessed about playing a hero’s role. We have much more pressing domestic matters to address.

We should feel obliged to help the Myanmar people, but we should also entrust them to find their own path to liberation from the military junta.

This could be a reminder for President Jokowi that Myanmar is not the be-all and end-all for either ASEAN or Indonesia.

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The writer is senior editor at The Jakarta Post.