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