In a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in August, the organization gave the Myanmar junta a deadline to implement the Five-Point Consensus.
By
FRANSISCA ROMANA, FROM NEW YORK, USA
·4 minutes read
NEW YORK, KOMPAS - The foreign ministers of ASEAN met in New York, United States, and agreed that there has been no significant progress in Myanmar’s military junta’s implementation of the Five-Point Consensus. Further action towards Myanmar is needed. Moreover, in addition to being more assertive with Myanmar, ASEAN also needs to cooperate with other countries so that they do not enact policies concerning Myanmar that are detrimental to ASEAN.
On the sidelines of the 77th United Nations General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi met with her ASEAN counterparts, except for Myanmar, in a series of bilateral, trilateral and informal meetings.
“It is not ill-intentioned. ASEAN intends to encourage them [Myanmar] to sit together for national reconciliation. ASEAN is not interfering in Myanmar’s domestic affairs,” said Retno in a media interview on Thursday (22/9/2022).
In a meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers in August, the organization gave the Myanmar junta a deadline to implement the Five-Point Consensus. It has now been almost a year and a half since the policy was established in April 2021 in Jakarta and the junta has made no visible progress in carrying out the consensus.
The Five-Point Consensus is an agreement to resolve the crisis in Myanmar. It includes the cessation of violence, constructive dialogue of the parties to reach a peaceful solution, the appointment of a special ASEAN envoy to facilitate the dialogue process, the distribution of humanitarian assistance by ASEAN and having the ASEAN envoy visit Myanmar to meet with the conflicting parties.
Last August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, as the 2022 ASEAN chair, reminded ASEAN to consider the next steps to pressure the junta to implement the Five-Point Consensus.
Other than continuously urging Myanmar, ASEAN also needs to be careful about making moves that are counterproductive. “I emphasize that we have no intention of expelling Myanmar from ASEAN. However, we need to reiterate the principles of the ASEAN Charter,” said Retno.
In a media statement in New York on Monday, Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah said ASEAN must decide whether to push forward with the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus or take a different approach. “Between now and the next summit, ASEAN must review whether the Five-Point Consensus is still relevant or if it should be replaced by a different approach,” he said.
“When we meet in November, we will have tough questions to ask and we will answer them then,” he added.
Taking it to the global stage
When asked to comment on the ASEAN foreign ministers meeting to discuss Myanmar, political research professor at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN) Dewi Fortuna Anwar said that ASEAN needs to take the Myanmar issue to the global stage while also limiting the involvement of the junta.
“However, ASEAN should not seem like it is trying to protect Myanmar from international criticism. Instead, they must continue to pressure Myanmar to implement the Five-Point Consensus. We cannot say the policy is irrelevant yet because it hasn’t been implemented,” she said.
The draft resolution also calls for Myanmar to release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, implement the Five-Point Consensus and ensure a democratic transition of power.
The UN Security Council is considering a British-initiated draft resolution to urge the junta to end all violence, end arms transfers to Myanmar and threaten them with UN sanctions. The draft resolution also calls for Myanmar to release all political prisoners, including Aung San Suu Kyi, implement the Five-Point Consensus and ensure a democratic transition of power.
According to Dewi, ASEAN must cooperate with other countries to ensure that they do not enact policies concerning Myanmar that will weaken ASEAN’s role.
Retno also explained that ASEAN plans to involve countries bordering Myanmar to help resolve the issue, including India and China.
Head of Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) international relations department Lina Alexandra said that Indonesia must take a firm stance considering that in 2023, the country will chair ASEAN. She suggested that the ASEAN special envoy should be a diplomat or conflict resolution expert that reports to the foreign minister so that monitoring and improvement systems can be carried out.
Dewi and Lina both agreed that there is no need to expel Myanmar from ASEAN. Doing so would only be detrimental to Southeast Asia. If Myanmar is not part of ASEAN, it can easily be used by other superpowers as a military base. (DNE)