KL defends move on Myanmar motion

KL defends move on Myanmar motion

Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi on Friday defended the blocking of a parliamentary motion seeking to deny Myanmar the ASEAN chairmanship next year unless it implements democratic reforms.

The motion, similar to those proposed in other parliaments of member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), was expected to be heard on Thursday but was shelved on government orders.

"I allow them to discuss, I do not think they need to have a resolution for their discussion," Abdullah told reporters.

"I think it is important that they convey whatever they feel, think about the situation in Myanmar. It is their freedom of expression," he said. "I'm not going deeper into that."

Zaid Ibrahim, chairman of the cross-party Pro-Democracy Myanmar Caucus which proposed the motion, said the government apparently did not want to "offend the Myanmar regime".

The ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Myanmar Caucus has proposed similar motions be debated in the legislatures of Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

Recently, the Philippine Senate unanimously approved a resolution calling for ASEAN to strip Myanmar of the group's rotating chairmanship unless it frees opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

The United Nations, the European Union and the United States have all objected to Myanmar taking over the chair of the 10- member grouping next year because of its poor human rights record.

The issue has exposed divisions among ASEAN members Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

Foreign ministers failed to reach a consensus on the issue during a retreat in the central Philippine island of Cebu early this month and deferred a decision on the chairmanship until July, when they will meet again in Laos.