Some ASEAN leaders say Myanmar reform is group's concern
Some ASEAN leaders say Myanmar reform is group's concern
Agencies, Bangkok/Yangon/Putrajaya, Malaysia
Southeast Asia's club of nations cannot ignore the issue of democratic reform -- or its absence -- in Myanmar, Thailand said on Monday after some members showed signs of losing patience with Yangon's ruling generals.
"This is an issue needing to be discussed by ASEAN," Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told reporters after rifts appeared within the ranks of the 10-strong Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) over Myanmar's military junta.
"It is not an issue for Thailand alone. All ASEAN members should try to find a solution and show our collective concern to Myanmar for its adjustment," he said.
Yangon is due to assume ASEAN's rotating annual chair in mid- 2006, but Malaysia and Singapore in particular appear worried about being represented by a military government despised by the Europe and the United States.
Myanmar insists it is heading down a carefully planned seven- step "roadmap to democracy", but with opposition leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi still under house arrest, few Western governments believe its assurances.
The U.S. and the European Union have already slapped sanctions on the former Burma. Breaking ASEAN's tradition of non- interference in a member's internal affairs, Singapore expressed concerns last week at the pace of reform and suggested ASEAN foreign ministers may turn up the heat at a meeting in Cebu, the Philippines, on April 9.
"Some hard messages may very well have to be put across, because what happens in Myanmar will affect ASEAN as a whole," a Singapore Foreign Ministry spokesman said.
Malaysia, which pushed for Myanmar's entry into the group in the 1990s in the hope of fostering a return to democracy, has served up the strongest comments, saying ASEAN's policy of "constructive engagement" might be dead in the water.
"There must be a timeframe for constructive engagement. It cannot go on and on forever," said Nazri Abdul Aziz, a minister in the office of the Malaysian premier.
But Malaysia's foreign minister played down the threat that Myanmar could be stripped of its ASEAN chairmanship next year unless it implements democratic reforms.
"We have said that Myanmar must move in the way that it has undertaken to do so. But you must remember, a decision on a member of ASEAN is not made by a single country but by ASEAN as a consensus. An ASEAN consensus means unanimity," Syed Hamid told a news conference on Monday.
Indonesia, ASEAN's largest member, has also said it wants to see at least some of the changes the generals have promised.
"It is our hope that in the months ahead the sort of progress which the Myanmar authorities have said that they want to achieve will be achieved," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Marty Natalegawa.
Other smaller ASEAN members were less demanding.
"According to alphabetical order it is Myanmar's turn. Why should you stop Myanmar?" Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said in an animated public address on Monday.
"Leave it to Myanmar to host the summit in Yangon and we will all attend it. There is nothing wrong with that," he said.
Communist Laos, which hands the ASEAN chair to Malaysia in a few months, was also reluctant to rock the boat.
"Since it is ASEAN policy not to intervene in each other's internal affairs, we must listen to Burma first before making any decision," the Bangkok Post newspaper quoted Lao Foreign Minister Somsavad Lengsawat as saying.
An independent report to the European Commission obtained on Monday urges the European Union to overhaul its policies on Myanmar in favor of an approach that would boost the economy and improve governance.
Among the report's 12 proposals are: recognizing Myanmar instead of Burma as the official name of the country; resuming regular high-level visits; revising the use of sanctions; and restoring some aid programs aimed at easing crushing poverty and improving basic education.
The 29-page report was written by long-time Myanmar researchers Robert Taylor, currently a fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, and Morten Pederson, an analyst for the International Crisis Group. Their findings are due to be presented at a Burma/Myanmar Day meeting in Brussels.