Asean summit

At the end of the Asean summit held on April 24 in Jakarta, the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asean Nations (Asean) developed a five-point consensus on Myanmar. They have called for immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar and have urged all parties to exercise utmost restraint so that a constructive dialogue can take place for a peaceful solution of the crisis. They have also decided that a special envoy of the Asean Chair shall facilitate mediation of the dialogue and Asean will provide all humanitarian assistance possible. Finally, the special envoy shall visit Myanmar to meet with all parties concerned. The leaders of the 10-member association have taken a positive step by discussing the Myanmar situation with the military leader who staged a coup in February. The coup has sparked a crisis in Myanmar and elicited strong condemnation from across the world. The purpose of the summit meeting was to find a peaceful solution to the crisis. Normally such meetings do not produce an immediate result but at least they demonstrate a commitment from the regional countries to persuade the military junta to restore democracy in the country.

As the crisis has worsened during the past couple of months and isolated Myanmar on the world stage, the summit provided an opportunity for the military leader to make an attempt to end his isolation. It remains to be seen if the summit meeting is able to exert enough pressure on the junta to yield to popular demands for civilian rule, but at least some steps have been taken. In the 21st century, no junta-led country can expect to gain respect internationally even by countries such as the UK and US who were at the forefront of supporting military dictatorships around the world if they agreed to play an anti-communist role in the cold-war era. Myanmar’s military chief while attending the meeting of Asean tried to explain under what circumstances the military ousted the civilian government led by Aung San Suu Kyi in the Feb-1 coup. So far, the country’s security forces have killed nearly 750 people in a bloody campaign to crush protests staged by pro-democracy activists.

Indonesia deserves special praise for its role in calling this meeting and showing the world that even if the rest of the world is reluctant about putting the Myanmar regime in the dock, Asean leaders have physically met to express their concerns on the situation in one of the member countries. There is no doubt that the military coup in Myanmar has led the country into a dead end from where it needs help to get out of the crisis. The protesters in Myanmar have expressed strong objections against the junta leader’s attendance at the summit as it gives the impression that Asean members accept him as the rightful representative of his nation. It is worth noting that pro-democracy forces have launched a parallel government in Myanmar which calls itself the National Unity Government which had requested to participate in the summit but Asean did not pay much attention to it. Even now, things can go either way: towards or further away from democracy, in a country that has already seen people willing to stand up against authoritarian forces.