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Timor Leste still on for ASEAN, says Ramos-Horta
It is Dili’s “destiny” to be part of ASEAN, said Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta on Monday, following his Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao’s previous statement claiming that the small island nation may reconsider its membership application.
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Timor-Leste President José Ramos-Horta speaks during a discussion hosted by The Jakarta Post in Jakarta on Aug. 7, 2023. The Democracy Dialogue seminar is a part of the Post's 40th anniversary events. (JP/Wendra Ajistyatama)
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t is Dili’s “destiny” to be part of ASEAN, said Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta on Monday, following his Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão’s previous statement claiming that the nation might reconsider its membership application.
Expecting ASEAN to have fully resolved the complicated Myanmar crisis by now was “unfair”, Ramos-Horta added.
For over a decade, Dili has attempted to get itself included as an official member of the 10-nation Southeast Asian bloc, an undertaking that finally bore fruit late last year when ASEAN members agreed in principle to admit Timor-Leste as their 11th member.
Yet on Friday, President Xanana told Timor-Leste media that the country would reassess its application, explaining that its government “cannot yet trust [the] association” as long as ASEAN was “unable to convince the military junta” to respect democratic values.
The statement, to which Jakarta responded with a wish for “more clarity”, was subsequently refuted by Ramos-Horta on Monday on the sidelines of The Jakarta Post’s Democracy Dialogue event.
“To expect ASEAN to resolve the problems of Myanmar is also like expecting the United Nations Security Council [UNSC] to have resolved the big catastrophes of Syria, Yemen, Libya, [or] the eternal problem of Congo,” Ramos-Horta said.
“So you have much more powerful institutions in the world that have not resolved some of the oldest, biggest problems. It’s not fair [to ASEAN].”
