Some ASEAN leaders say Myanmar reform is group's concern<\/p>\n
Agencies, Bangkok\/Yangon\/Putrajaya, Malaysia<\/p>\n
Southeast Asia's club of nations cannot ignore the issue of
\ndemocratic reform -- or its absence -- in Myanmar, Thailand said
\non Monday after some members showed signs of losing patience with
\nYangon's ruling generals.<\/p>\n
\"This is an issue needing to be discussed by ASEAN,\" Thai
\nPrime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters after rifts
\nappeared within the ranks of the 10-strong Association of South
\nEast Asian Nations (ASEAN) over Myanmar's military junta.<\/p>\n
\"It is not an issue for Thailand alone. All ASEAN members
\nshould try to find a solution and show our collective concern to
\nMyanmar for its adjustment,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Yangon is due to assume ASEAN's rotating annual chair in mid-
\n2006, but Malaysia and Singapore in particular appear worried
\nabout being represented by a military government despised by the
\nEurope and the United States.<\/p>\n
Myanmar insists it is heading down a carefully planned seven-
\nstep \"roadmap to democracy\", but with opposition leader and Nobel
\nlaureate Aung San Suu Kyi still under house arrest, few Western
\ngovernments believe its assurances.<\/p>\n
The U.S. and the European Union have already slapped sanctions
\non the former Burma. Breaking ASEAN's tradition of non-
\ninterference in a member's internal affairs, Singapore expressed
\nconcerns last week at the pace of reform and suggested ASEAN
\nforeign ministers may turn up the heat at a meeting in Cebu, the
\nPhilippines, on April 9.<\/p>\n
\"Some hard messages may very well have to be put across,
\nbecause what happens in Myanmar will affect ASEAN as a whole,\" a
\nSingapore Foreign Ministry spokesman said.<\/p>\n
Malaysia, which pushed for Myanmar's entry into the group in
\nthe 1990s in the hope of fostering a return to democracy, has
\nserved up the strongest comments, saying ASEAN's policy of
\n\"constructive engagement\" might be dead in the water.<\/p>\n
\"There must be a timeframe for constructive engagement. It
\ncannot go on and on forever,\" said Nazri Abdul Aziz, a minister
\nin the office of the Malaysian premier.<\/p>\n
But Malaysia's foreign minister played down the threat that
\nMyanmar could be stripped of its ASEAN chairmanship next year
\nunless it implements democratic reforms.<\/p>\n
\"We have said that Myanmar must move in the way that it has
\nundertaken to do so. But you must remember, a decision on a
\nmember of ASEAN is not made by a single country but by ASEAN as a
\nconsensus. An ASEAN consensus means unanimity,\" Syed Hamid told a
\nnews conference on Monday.<\/p>\n
Indonesia, ASEAN's largest member, has also said it wants to
\nsee at least some of the changes the generals have promised.<\/p>\n
\"It is our hope that in the months ahead the sort of progress
\nwhich the Myanmar authorities have said that they want to achieve
\nwill be achieved,\" said Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty
\nNatalegawa.<\/p>\n
Other smaller ASEAN members were less demanding.<\/p>\n
\"According to alphabetical order it is Myanmar's turn. Why
\nshould you stop Myanmar?\" Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said
\nin an animated public address on Monday.<\/p>\n
\"Leave it to Myanmar to host the summit in Yangon and we will
\nall attend it. There is nothing wrong with that,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Communist Laos, which hands the ASEAN chair to Malaysia in a
\nfew months, was also reluctant to rock the boat.<\/p>\n
\"Since it is ASEAN policy not to intervene in each other's
\ninternal affairs, we must listen to Burma first before making any
\ndecision,\" the Bangkok Post newspaper quoted Lao Foreign Minister
\nSomsavad Lengsawat as saying.<\/p>\n
An independent report to the European Commission obtained on
\nMonday urges the European Union to overhaul its policies on
\nMyanmar in favor of an approach that would boost the economy and
\nimprove governance.<\/p>\n
Among the report's 12 proposals are: recognizing Myanmar
\ninstead of Burma as the official name of the country; resuming
\nregular high-level visits; revising the use of sanctions; and
\nrestoring some aid programs aimed at easing crushing poverty and
\nimproving basic education.<\/p>\n
The 29-page report was written by long-time Myanmar
\nresearchers Robert Taylor, currently a fellow at the Institute of
\nSoutheast Asian Studies in Singapore, and Morten Pederson, an
\nanalyst for the International Crisis Group. Their findings are
\ndue to be presented at a Burma\/Myanmar Day meeting in Brussels.<\/p>",
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