The problem with Myanmar

The problem with Myanmar

Reuters news agency quoted Malaysia's Deputy Prime Minister
Anwar Ibrahim as saying the three Southeast Asian countries,
Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar, can be admitted as full members in
ASEAN only at the end of this year. It has been widely reported
that the political situation currently prevailing in Myanmar is
one of the reasons for this delay.

Opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and other activists of the
National League for Democracy (NLD) have been continually
subjected to improper treatment by the military regime when they
were planning to hold a party congress. This congress was
intended to mark the anniversary of the NLD's victory in the
general election seven years ago.

The problem is that the military junta has refused to
recognize the NLD's victory, and has violated all democratic
principles by annulling the election results, arresting
dissidents and establishing SLORC.

International attention became increasingly fixed on Myanmar's
military regime's demeanor when that country wanted to step up
its links with its Southeast Asian brothers within ASEAN. It must
be admitted that in making its bid, Myanmar has been behaving as
a well-behaved child. Thus, ASEAN began pursuing a policy of
constructive engagement in the hope that this brotherly approach
and tedious diplomacy would help make SLORC see its own political
sins.

However, four years have since gone by and the results have
been practically nil. All the slogans invented to support this
policy have been easily punctured by the countries of the West
simply by pointing out the human rights violence committed by the
SLORC. It may be well for the leaders of ASEAN, pending their
informal meeting in December, to jointly work out a new approach
in their policy towards Myanmar.

Surely, we are all familiar with what is referred to as the
"ASEAN process", which is full of compromises. This strong bent
towards compromise can even be seen in the way we have turned
ASEAN into a regional grouping which appeals to friendly
countries in other parts of the world.

What wrong, then, could there be in listening to our friend's
objections to Myanmar's admission, this time as well? Rather than
engaging in an endless debate about the internal situation in
Myanmar, it would be better for us to try to accept the reality
that we cannot escape the principle of linkage that governs
regional and international relations.

-- Kompas, Jakarta