Myanmar remains a thorn in ASEAN's side eight years on

Myanmar remains a thorn in ASEAN's side eight years on

Syed Nadzri, New Straits Times, Kuala Lumpur

Myanmar is proving to be a pain for ASEAN, eight years after
joining the fold.

And the unease it reportedly created among fellow members at
the annual retreat of Southeast Asian foreign ministers in Cebu
over the weekend has somewhat confirmed that it has indeed become
a thorn in the side of one of the world's most prominent regional
groupings.

The issue is clear -- Myanmar is scheduled to take over the
chairmanship of ASEAN next year from Malaysia. But most members
feel it first needs to improve on its human rights record, which
has been routinely described as horrendous. Either that or miss
its turn.

The United States, the European Union and many other
countries, which regularly participate in ASEAN forums as
dialogue partners, have now threatened to boycott such events if
and when Myanmar assumes the chairmanship.

The ASEAN chairmanship is rotated yearly among the 10 members
according to the alphabetical order of the countries.

The current chairman is Laos, while Malaysia will take over
later this year, followed by Myanmar and the Philippines.

The Cebu meeting was the third time in six months that the 10-
member ASEAN has had to deal with the issue of Myanmar.

The first was at the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) in Hanoi in
October last year when the grouping had to hold its ground in the
wake of tremendous pressure from its European partners who did
not want Myanmar to be represented at the discussion table.

The meeting eventually took place with Myanmar but only after
concerted face-saving measures accompanied by constant reminders
that an Asia-Europe dialogue and the enormous business potential
that could be generated were bigger than the problems of any one
country.

A month later, at the 10th ASEAN Summit in Vientiane, the
tension remained and provided the litmus test of the ASEAN
members' founding principle of non-interference in each other's
internal affairs.

But Myanmar, anticipating that it was in for some tough
moments, came up with a timely act to soften the blow.

In what was believed to be a pre-emptive move, the country's
military junta released some 9,000 detainees from its prisons
just days before the start of the summit.

This, however, did little to convince the international
community that things had really changed because the roadmap to
democracy as agreed to by the ruling generals has been followed
at a snail's pace.

Meanwhile, the rest of ASEAN appears to be increasingly
agitated as each time they deal with the Myanmar issue, the split
within the ranks seems to widen.

There is now what is called a delicate balancing act between
ASEAN's established practices and principles and its credibility.

And it is quite clear that Malaysia, Singapore and the
Philippines are getting impatient with Myanmar while Thailand and
the newer ASEAN members like Cambodia and Laos still believe in
sticking to the founding principles of non-interference and
giving the old constructive-engagement formula another chance.

At the Cebu retreat, for instance, the foreign ministers,
perhaps sensing how divisive the issue had become, only talked
about it during a coffee-break.

Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar was reported to have said
that the rest of the ASEAN ministers told Myanmar's Nyan Win that
the grouping would let Myanmar decide whether to take up the
chairmanship.

Any solution, he added, must be good for ASEAN as a whole.

Observers believe that this amounted to an oblique way of
saying, "If you know what's best for you and the grouping, you
better volunteer to give it up". It's like a face-saving way out
of the predicament. The decision is voluntary and not forced.

But knowing Yangon, this is quite unlikely to happen. It did
not relent when it was seriously suggested that, as a compromise,
its Prime Minister should not go for the ASEM Summit last year
but instead send lower-ranking ministers in his place.

The next major regional forum is the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting
in Vientiane in July. If nothing concrete is done by then about
Myanmar's position, ASEAN is going to be bogged down by the same
old problem.