ASEAN leadership seen bringing pressure on Myanmar: Downer
ASEAN leadership seen bringing pressure on Myanmar: Downer
Agencies, Kuala Lumpur/Phnom Penh
Myanmar is likely to face strong pressure from its neighbors to push through political reform once it takes over the chairmanship of Southeast Asia's main grouping, Australia's foreign minister said on Friday.
Alexander Downer said Myanmar's turn as chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2006 was a prospect its partners in the 10-country bloc viewed with concern.
"I think a great turning point is going to be when Myanmar takes over the leadership of ASEAN," Downer told Reuters in an interview.
"That is going to put a lot of pressure on ASEAN and ASEAN is very conscious of that," he said.
Neither sanctions by Western countries nor engagement by Myanmar's Southeast Asian partners have loosened the grip on power by Yangon's military leaders.
Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi remains under house arrest and her party is absent from constitutional talks that started last month and are widely regarded by Western nations as a sham.
Myanmar joined ASEAN in 1997, creating diplomatic rifts and riling ties with European countries, in particular, that have long criticized Myanmar over its poor rights record and suppression of the pro-democracy opposition.
Some ASEAN members have expressed concern about the damage Myanmar's inclusion in the grouping has done to its dealings with its "dialog partners", such as the European Union and the United States.
Yangon's assumption of ASEAN's rotating chairmanship could bring a showdown with the bloc's partners if no progress is seen on the junta's so-called road map to democracy.
"The countries that are going to have more influence over the leadership there are countries like Malaysia and Thailand and Singapore and the Philippines and so on," Downer said.
"They have to do all they can to try get this road map brought to a point of credibility," he said at the end of a two-day visit to Malaysia.
Meanwhile, Cambodia said on Friday that some Asian countries could derail its efforts to join the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) as a result of the spat surrounding Myanmar's proposed inclusion.
The 10-member grouping wants its newer members -- Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar -- to be included in the biennial summit in return for the participation of 10 European countries, which joined on May 1.
However, some EU members are opposed to Myanmar's entry unless the military regime lifts restrictions on opposition leader Suu Kyi, putting the next summit, slated for October, in jeopardy.
"I have told the European community that want it or not, we are being held hostage to the Myanmar situation when it comes to entering ASEM," foreign minister Hor Namhong told reporters.
He said that while European members have said they have no problem with Cambodia and Laos entering the bloc, some Asian countries want to see all three join at the same time.
"Unfortunately, some Asian countries -- I won't mention any particular country -- want the three of us in jointly," he said, adding that he could not confirm whether Cambodia would join October's summit in Hanoi if it goes ahead.