Myanmar not on the agenda of ASEAN summit meeting: Official

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Regardless of growing calls for more pressure on military junta to introduce political reforms and release freedom icon Aung San Suu Kyi during the forthcoming ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur, an Indonesian senior official confirmed that the Myanmar issue would not be on the agenda at the meeting.

Marty Natalegawa, director general for ASEAN cooperation at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who will lead the country's delegation at the Senior Officials Meeting (SOM) meeting, insisted that there had been forums set up to discuss Myanmar issue.

He said that Indonesia would continue raising the Myanmar issue at other meetings to ensure that the military Junta fulfills its promise to introduce democracy and release Nobel laureate Suu Kyi from house arrest, which was extended by another six months on Nov. 27.

"Though the Myanmar issue is an internal problem, it will also affect the region and the credibility of ASEAN," he said, adding that the talks on Myanmar were not intended to corner the junta.

Marty added that ASEAN member countries still preferred using dialog processes rather than sanctions, such as those imposed by Western countries, in resolving the Myanmar issue.

ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Caucus on Democracy in Myanmar during its conference in Kuala Lumpur last week said that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) might expel Myanmar if its military junta didn't move toward democracy in the next year.

The Caucus, consisting of lawmakers from Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Myanmar, also urged leaders to put Myanmar on the summit agenda.

Malaysia will host the 11th ASEAN summit from Dec. 12 to Dec. 14. ASEAN leaders are expected to sign the establishment of the ASEAN Charter.

A series of related summits will also be held on the sidelines, including the ASEAN + 3 summit, ASEAN + China summit, 9th ASEAN + Japan summit, ASEAN + Korea and ASEAN + India.

Malaysia will also be hosting the first ASEAN + Russia summit.

The highlight of these high-level meetings will be the hosting of the first-ever East Asia Summit (EAS) on Dec. 14.

To make preparations and lay the groundwork for these top- level meetings, senior officials and ministers from these countries will meet in Kuala Lumpur from Dec. 6 to Dec. 11.