KL won't block anti-Myanmar caucus

KL won't block anti-Myanmar caucus

MALAYSIA: Malaysia's government will not block a motion seeking to deny Myanmar the ASEAN chairmanship when parliament reconvenes next month, Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said on Tuesday.

"There's no problem," Syed Hamid told reporters of the motion, which seeks to punish military-run Myanmar for failing to introduce democratic reforms. "If they want to, they can discuss it."

The motion filed by the cross-party Pro-Democracy Myanmar Caucus in the March meeting of parliament was originally supposed to be debated at the end of the April parliament sitting.

Lawmakers from the Caucus have said they believe Myanmar has put pressure on Malaysia to halt the motion, which seeks to deny Yangon the rotating chairmanship of the regional body that it is due to assume in 2006.

Parliamentarians in several countries in the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations have urged their governments to block Myanmar because of Yangon's lack of democratic reforms.

ASEAN is due to discuss the issue with Myanmar, also known as Burma, during the bloc's ministerial meeting in Vientiane, Laos in July. -- AFP