Hanoi, April 09: Myanmar faced scrutiny on Friday over its widely criticised election plans, at a meeting of Southeast Asian leaders where the ruling junta has been urged to ensure the ballot is free and fair.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Vietnam’s capital Hanoi has been overshadowed by the Myanmar issue, as well as political drama in Thailand which forced its premier to stay at home.
The United States has led international condemnation of laws Myanmar has enacted for the polls scheduled to be held later this year, which effectively bar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from participating.
“I think they realise that the whole world is watching them,” Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak said on the opening day of the summit Thursday.
“But for them to decide to take the path or the roadmap towards democracy is a gargantuan step, and we’re glad that they’ve taken that, so we must encourage them along the way,” he told reporters.
ASEAN members are divided on how to handle Myanmar, which has always escaped formal censure from the 10-nation group as it adheres to a principle of non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.
But as Myanmar’s poor record — including allegations of massive human rights abuses as well as a failure to shift to democracy — again threatens to discredit the region, its neighbours reminded it of its obligations.
“The important thing is for the process itself to be a very sound process, a credible process, and to be free and fair so that it will enhance Myanmar and ASEAN, particularly with the world community,” Najib said.
“I think they understand what is expected of them,” he said, but added that regional states would not “pre-judge” Myanmar by assuming the polls will fall short of expectations.
The Malaysian leader said the issue would be discussed “internally” but that it was unlikely the bloc would release any statement criticising Myanmar.
ASEAN’s foreign ministers said that at a dinner Wednesday they quizzed their Myanmar counterpart Nyan Win over the election plans, which have triggered a boycott by Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy.
“We were not criticising him or lecturing him or telling him what to do. We were just making observations and suggestions and he took them in a good spirit,” said Singapore Foreign Minister George Yeo.
“We are not in a position to punish Myanmar,” he added.
The main order of business for the two-day summit is efforts to propel ASEAN towards a 2015 goal to establish a community of nations encompassing 600 million people with economic, security and social ties.
“While important progress has been made… much remains to be done,” Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said as he formally opened the talks Thursday.
Although the meeting’s slogan is “from vision to action”, analysts say ASEAN is hampered by wide development gaps within the region, entrenched domestic interests and the shortcomings and instability of some members.
Its diverse membership ranges from Laos, one of Asia’s poorest nations, to the Westernised city-state of Singapore, the absolute monarchy of Brunei and the vibrant democracy of Indonesia.
Singapore’s Yeo said the leaders would discuss how they might expand relations with Russia and the United States. The 43-year-old bloc is trying to ensure it is not pushed aside by proposals for new regional groupings.
“It’s very important that we stay in the driver’s seat,” Yeo said, adding that it was not yet clear what form ties could take with the two global powers which are already part of a formal dialogue process with the group.
ASEAN this week took another step towards addressing long-neglected human rights concerns with the inauguration of a commission to address the rights of women and children.
Ministers also fleshed out their vision of a rules-based regional community by signing a protocol to help member nations resolve conflicts.
In a draft of a leaders’ statement due to be released later Friday, they call on regional governments to prepare to wind down economic stimulus measures brought in during the global financial crisis.
–AFP