Myanmar may give up ASEAN chair: Singapore

Myanmar may give up ASEAN chair: Singapore

Agence France-Presse, Singapore

ASEAN members cannot force Myanmar to give up its turn as
chairman next year but the country might do so voluntarily to
uphold the group's interests, Singapore Foreign Minister George
Yeo said here on Friday.

Yeo, speaking to the Foreign Correspondents Association of
Singapore, said further discussions on the issue were expected
when foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) meet in Laos next month.

Officials and parliamentarians from some ASEAN members are
afraid that military-ruled Myanmar will damage the group's image
and international links if it becomes chairman after Malaysia
under an alphabetical rotation system.

U.S. and European leaders are expected to boycott any meetings
held in Myanmar between the grouping and its Western partners.

"Myanmar has told us, and Myanmar has told other countries in
Southeast Asia, that it will not be selfish and that it will take
into account the interests of ASEAN as a whole," Yeo said.

The other countries "took that to mean that Myanmar might
withdraw on its own from assuming the chair," he added.

Yeo also confirmed on Friday that Singapore had misgivings
about admitting Myanmar into ASEAN in 1997, but Malaysia and
other members pressed for it.

"At the time when Myanmar and Laos and Cambodia were admitted
to ASEAN, Singapore's position at the time was that it might be
premature because the economies were still not sufficiently
opened up," he said.

But other members of ASEAN felt strongly that they should
complete the regional group's construction quickly so Singapore
went along, he said.

Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad "was one of
those who supported it strongly" and "expressed some words of
regret subsequently."

"But there's no point dwelling back on history. We work on the
basis of where we are today," he said.

Yeo reiterated that when ASEAN foreign ministers met in the
Philippine city of Cebu last April, "we took a very clear
position that it would set a very bad precedent for ASEAN ... to
take away the chairmanship from any member."

No ASEAN member has ever been pressured into relinquishing its
leadership but Myanmar's human rights record, particularly the
treatment of pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi and her
supporters, has embarrassed its neighbors.

Holding the ASEAN chair means Myanmar will set the group's
agenda and direction as well as host a series of meetings,
including a summit and a high-level security forum involving the
United States and European Union.