Brunei Darussalam Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah confirmed that he will attend and chair the ASEAN Summit to be held on Saturday (24/4/2021) in Jakarta.
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MAHDI MUHAMMAD
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Kompas/Heru Sri Kumoro
Sultan of Brunei Darussalam Hassanal Bolkiah was present at the inauguration of the elected President-Vice President Joko Widodo-Ma\'ruf Amin at the Nusantara Building, Parliament Complex, Senayan, Jakarta, Sunday (10/20/2019).
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – Brunei Darussalam Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah confirmed that he will attend and chair the ASEAN Summit to be held on Saturday (24/4/2021) in Jakarta. The summit will specifically discuss the political crisis in Myanmar.
Also present will be the heads of other ASEAN countries, including Indonesian President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh. The leader of the Myanmar military junta, General Min Aung Hlaing, will also attend the meeting.
News of Hlaing’s attendance at the ASEAN Summit first emerged in Tokyo-based business daily, Nikkei Asia, Wednesday (21/4). Nikkei quoted a statement by Myanmar’s military spokesman, Zaw Min Tun, who confirmed that Hlaing will attend the ASEAN Summit.
Meanwhile, several other ASEAN country heads have not yet confirmed their attendance. Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has said he will not be attending, but will be represented by Deputy Prime Minister Don Pramudwinai, who is also a foreign minister.
The attendance of representatives from the National Unity Government, a government formed by the people, politicians and civilian activists of Myanmar, is also uncertain. ASEAN public relations assistant director Romeo Jr Abad Arca, Wednesday, said that Brunei Darussalam issued the invitations to the summit as the current chair of ASEAN, not as the ASEAN Secretariat.
“We do not have specific information or confirmation about who was invited,” he said.
AFP/THET AUNG
(FILES) In this file photo taken on August 29, 2018 Myanmar military chief General Min Aung Hlaing inspects a major bridge near the capital Naypyidaw damaged by flood waters. - Myanmar junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing will join a special ASEAN summit next week, the Thai foreign ministry said April 17, 2021, his first official trip since masterminding a coup which deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
Indonesian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah was also unable to discuss the preparations being made for this summit.
The United Nations (UN) Special Envoy for Myanmar Christine Schraner Burgener is reportedly coming to Jakarta, Thursday (22/4), to meet with several senior ASEAN officials, including Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi. Burgener, according to a number of sources among ASEAN diplomats, hopes to meet everyone in Jakarta.
Challenges
According to Padjadjaran University School of Social and Political Sciences international political observer Teuku Rezasyah, the ASEAN Summit to be held mirrors the Jakarta Informal Meeting (JIM) in the late 1990s, where Indonesia served as a mediator during the Cambodian conflict. Indonesia, according to Rezasyah, has a moral responsibility because it has supported Myanmar to join ASEAN.
According to Rezasyah, the certainty of Myanmar’s presence at the ASEAN Summit signals that the junta is starting to experience difficulties. Pressure from many parties, including the United Nations and the European Union, have left the junta with no other option. Moreover, the junta do not have a blueprint for Myanmar’s future.
Referring to the pressure and civil governance related to the Rohingya issue, according to Rezasyah, ASEAN is considered “home” for the military junta. “ASEAN is the home that has protected them from the threats and attacks of the European Union, the US, Japan and so on. They have come to their own home,” said Rezasyah.
“Indonesia already has complete bank data. All that remains is to translate it into concrete steps and to find solutions for all parties,” he said.
AP PHOTO/DITA ALANGKARA
Activists flash a three-finger sign of defiance as they ride bicycles during a solidarity rally against the Myanmar military coup called "Bike for Myanmar" through the main business district in Jakarta, Indonesia, Saturday, April 17, 2021.
It shows that there is still no serious agreement yet regarding the response to the Myanmar case.
Gadjah Mada University (UGM) international relations lecturer Randy Wirasta Nandyatama highlighted Prime Minister Prayuth’s absence. “It shows that there is still no serious agreement yet regarding the response to the Myanmar case,” he said.
Prayuth’s absence also indicates that talks are still tough. Thus far, Thailand has helped facilitate communication between ASEAN and the international community and the Myanmar junta. In Thailand’s perspective, according to Randy, the ASEAN Summit may mark the beginning of an organized intervention in the domestic affairs of a country.
However, the ASEAN Summit this time may also lay the foundation for creating a conducive atmosphere in Myanmar. Several countries supporting Indonesia’s diplomatic work, such as Singapore and Malaysia – which also have a number of economic interests in Myanmar – will be key to negotiations at the summit. “The most important issue during the next summit is how to deal with violence against civilians,” said Randy.
Like JIM, Randy believes the ASEAN Summit will not be the end of the Myanmar issue. There will be a series of discussions to follow that will require joint participant in order for the interests of all parties are accommodated, especially the implementation of a democracy in Myanmar.
