ASEAN leaders have agreed to give Myanmar an ultimatum by making way for the country’s “de facto freeze” in ASEAN. Leaders also agreed to accept Timor Leste as the 11th member of ASEAN.
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MUHAMMAD SAMSUL HADI, NINA SUSILO, B JOSIE SUSILO HARDIANTO, LARASWATI ARIADNE ANWAR, PASCAL S BIN SAJU
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AFP/TANG CHHIN SOTHY
(L-R) Singapore's Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan, Thailand's Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, Vietnam's Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen, and Indonesia's President Joko Widodo stand on stage during the ASEAN-UN summit as part of the 40th and 41st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summits, in Phnom Penh on November 11, 2022.
PHNOM PENH, FRIDAY – Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to send Myanmar an ultimatum as a consequence, if it continues to fail to implement the five-point consensus. This leads to the possibility of wider exclusion, including Myanmar’s “de facto freeze” in ASEAN.
“There is a need for an implementation plan that includes concrete, practical and measurable indicators within a certain time frame to support the five points of the consensus,” ASEAN leaders stated at the 40th and 41st ASEAN summits in Phnom Penh on Friday (11/11/2022).
They asked the ASEAN Coordinating Council (ACC), which consists of foreign ministers, to “further review Myanmar’s participation in all ASEAN meetings if the situation calls for it.”
With an ultimatum, nonpolitical representatives from Myanmar could be banned from all ASEAN foreign ministerial meetings (AMM) and summits if the situation deemed it necessary. Observers say that the decision was a nod towards a “de facto freeze” on Myanmar’s membership in ASEAN.
“The situation in Myanmar must not hold ASEAN hostage,” President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo told reporters at the site of the summit. He said the situation in Myanmar has been worsening. “Indonesia is very disappointed,” said the President.
“This is a warning, a strong message from [ASEAN] leaders,” said Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi, who accompanied the President.
“This is the first time that [ASEAN] leaders have emphasized [the possibility] that political representatives from Myanmar will not be allowed to partake in the summit and AMM,” Retno told Kompas.
This is a warning, a strong message from [ASEAN] leaders
ASEAN leaders are currently shelving the idea of a complete freeze of Myanmar’s membership in ASEAN, emphasizing that the country “remains an integral part of ASEAN.”
ASEAN leaders, excluding Myanmar, gathered in Phnom Penh to discuss regional and global issues. One issue that has frustrated ASEAN leaders for more than a year is the Myanmar crisis.
Myanmar has been in a political crisis since 1 February 2021, when supreme military commander Min Aung Hlaing overthrew the civilian government that won the November 2020 election. In April 2021, ASEAN leaders and Min Aung Hlaing agreed on a five-point consensus to resolve the crisis.
AP/ANUPAM NATH
Indonesia's President Joko Widodo, left, talks to his staff during the ASEAN - South Korea Summits (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, Nov. 11, 2022. The ASEAN summit kicks off a series of three top-level meetings in Asia, with the Group of 20 summit in Bali to follow and then the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Bangkok.
The five-point consensus includes the immediate cessation of violence, a dialogue among concerned parties, mediation by an ASEAN special envoy, provision of humanitarian aid and a visit to Myanmar by the special envoy to meet all concerned parties. However, after more than a year, Myanmar’s junta has yet to implement the five-point consensus.
The leader of Myanmar’s military junta has been ostracized from ASEAN meetings. ASEAN continues to provide opportunities for non-political representatives of the country to participate in ASEAN events, although Naypyidaw has refused the invitations.
“De facto freeze”
A senior researcher at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Dewi Fortuna Anwar, said that the decision of ASEAN leaders has made way for the possible imposition of a “de facto freeze” on Myanmar’s ASEAN membership. She deemed that the move would have a positive impact on efforts to resolve the Myanmar crisis.
“ASEAN is not allowing itself to be held hostage by Myanmar,” said Dewi. “ASEAN can more freely discuss and propose various solutions to overcome the Myanmar crisis when the country in question becomes the ‘object’ and not the ‘subject’.”
Lidya Cristin Sinaga, a fellow BRIN researcher who has been observing the issues in Myanmar, added that the decision of ASEAN leaders was part of the organization’s way of pressuring the Myanmar junta to implement the five-point consensus.
The urge to expand Myanmar’s exclusion, to include non-political representatives, was driven by a camp led by President Jokowi. Citing a diplomat who did not want to be named, the Associated Press reported that Thailand, supported by Cambodia and Laos, opposed Indonesia’s proposal. They reasoned that expanding Myanmar’s exclusion would be the same as a “de facto freeze.”
In 2023, Indonesia will chair ASEAN and host the ASEAN Summit. “The ASEAN Summit is the highest decision-making body and will determine the final decision on the implementation of the five-point consensus, including the case when the consensus is not reached according to the ASEAN Charter,” ASEAN leaders stressed.
ASEAN also immediately opened a path for all parties involved in Myanmar’s conflict.
The issue of Timor Leste
During the meeting, ASEAN leaders also agreed in principle to accept Timor Leste as its 11th member. The next steps include a “roadmap to full membership” to be submitted at next year’s ASEAN Summit during Indonesia’s ASEAN chairmanship.
In its current position, Timor Leste receives an observer status at ASEAN summits. (AP/AFP/REUTERS)
