Myanmar ends silence on ASEAN leadership concern
Myanmar ends silence on ASEAN leadership concern
Brian Williams, Reuters/Hanoi
Myanmar broke a silence on Thursday about concern that its human
rights record would tarnish its leadership of ASEAN next year,
forecasting a solution would be found in time to satisfy all.
On a visit to Vietnam, Prime Minister Soe Win gave no
assurances about the release of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi
and other human rights reforms.
But he sent out an optimistic signal that an issue that has
the potential to lead to a boycott of next year's ASEAN summit by
the United States and the European Union (EU) could be overcome.
"It will be all OK," Soe Win said in answer to a question
about growing concerns in Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(ASEAN) members Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the
Philippines about damage to the group's international reputation
from Myanmar's leadership of the block from mid-2006 under the
group's system of an alphabetically rotating chairmanship.
Europe and the United States have shunned the former Burma and
slapped sanctions on Yangon since the military government's
latest detention of Nobel laureate Suu Kyi in May 2003.
ASEAN has preferred a more conciliatory stance of
"constructive engagement" to foster democratic reform.
Vietnam's foreign ministry spokesman Le Dung said Hanoi's
attitude on the Myanmar leadership issue would be decided on
ASEAN's principles of "consensus and non-interference in each
other's internal affairs."
"Vietnam always follows and suppports efforts of national
reconciliation by the Myanmar people," he added after Soe Win met
Vietnamese Prime Minister Phan Van Khai.
Despite the junta's assurances that it is locked into a seven-
step "road map to democracy", there have been no concrete signs
of change and Suu Kyi and her deputy Tin Oo remain under house
arrest.
On Wednesday, the Philippines said there could be opposition
to Myanmar's chairmanship at a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers
next week if it does not show its commitment to pushing ahead
with democratic reforms.
Diplomats said they believed Soe Win's visits this week to
Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia would include taking the temperature
on its chairmanship ahead of the foreign ministers meeting.
The ASEAN foreign ministers will gather on Mactan island in
the central Philippines on Sunday to prepare for the 38th
ministerial meeting in Laos in July and a December summit in
Malaysia.
"The key issue is for Myanmar to follow the (democracy)
road map," Philippines Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo
told reporters.
Romulo said Myanmar's chairmanship would be discussed next
week and that Myanmar's junta must make a firm commitment to
stick to the road map for democracy.
Yangon has promised to bring the country back to democracy
through a series of reforms, such as freeing political dissidents
and drafting a new constitution.
The seven-stage road map was laid out in 2003 by former prime
minister Khin Nyunt, who was purged last October.
ASEAN drew Myanmar out from isolation in 1997, taking a more
conciliatory approach of "constructive engagement" with Yangon's
reclusive generals.
The Philippine Senate is set to approve a resolution urging
the government to block Myanmar's chairmanship if Suu Kyi is not
released.
ASEAN includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.