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.