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ASEAN bars Myanmar from 2026 chairmanship
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President Joko “Jokowi“ Widodo waits as other leaders take their spots for a photo session during the opening ceremony of the ASEAN Summit in Jakarta on Sept. 5, 2023. (Reuters/Dita Alangkara/Pool)
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outheast Asian leaders approved a series of measures on Tuesday to further limit the Myanmar junta’s role in ASEAN, as part of a wider review of the regional bloc’s efforts to restore peace in the conflict-torn country.
Jakarta is hosting the 43rd ASEAN Summit and related meetings this week, the culmination of Indonesia’s chairmanship of the organization this year, against the backdrop of persistent internal and external crises, most prominently the coup crisis in Myanmar.
The military overthrow of the democratically elected government in Naypyidaw more than two years ago has continued to be a sore point for ASEAN, eroding faith in the group’s ability to act in times of crisis.
“For the interest of the ASEAN family, we must be bolder in evaluating ourselves and discuss this matter in the open so that we can seek solutions. We must take on efforts that are more tactical and extraordinary,” President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo said ahead of the summit’s retreat session, where leaders engaged in more private discussions.
ASEAN leaders later emerged from the first day of closed-door summitry with an agreement to skip Myanmar’s scheduled chairmanship of the group in 2026, as part of a wider review of the bloc’s Five-Point Consensus (5PC) on Myanmar.
The 5PC calls for the immediate cessation of violence, inclusive dialogue, the appointment and dispatch of a special envoy and delivery of humanitarian assistance.
