Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) expressed little sympathy for Myanmar’s junta during the first day of their annual summit on Tuesday.
Myanmar’s absence from the virtual gathering was a key issue raised by several in attendance, as they made it clear who they thought was responsible for this unprecedented situation.
In his opening remarks, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen accused the regime of “boycotting” the summit after it announced yesterday that it would not accept an invitation to send a non-political representative.
“Today, ASEAN did not expel Myanmar from the ASEAN framework, but Myanmar abandoned its rights with a boycott, even though we tried [to include] its participation at a non-political level,” the Cambodian prime minister said.
The controversy comes just over a week after ASEAN’s current chair Brunei informed the regime that its leader, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, would be excluded from the gathering due to the junta’s failure to implement a five-point consensus it reached with the regional bloc in April.
Brunei later invited the junta’s permanent secretary for foreign affairs, Chan Aye, to attend, but the offer was rejected on the grounds that it “downgraded” the regime’s representation.
As the leader of next year’s chair, Hun Sen raised the possibility that the current impasse could continue if the Myanmar junta doesn’t alter its stance.
“At the time Cambodia becomes chair of ASEAN next year, I do not know if Myanmar will continue this issue. Now we are in the situation of ASEAN-minus-one. That is not because of ASEAN but because of Myanmar herself,” he said.
Other leaders also said they backed Brunei’s decision to send a signal to the Myanmar regime over its failure to deescalate the crisis that it created when it seized power in February.
“Malaysia fully supports the decision made by the ASEAN chair on the issue of representation from Myanmar,” tweeted Malaysian Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob on Tuesday.
The growing instability of Myanmar in the wake of the military takeover has been seen by many as a test of ASEAN’s credibility as a body capable of handling regional crises.
In August, the bloc appointed senior Brunei diplomat Erywan Yusof as its special envoy to Myanmar in an effort to push for progress in resolving a political dispute that threatens to turn into an all-out civil war.
However, a planned visit to Naypyitaw earlier this month was postponed, reportedly over Yusof’s request to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi, the detained leader of the deposed ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), and ousted president Win Myint.
Moe Zaw Oo, the deputy foreign affairs minister of Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government (NUG), said that regional leaders understand the country’s crisis is not just an internal affair, but a regional issue.
“ASEAN has many experiences when it comes to Myanmar. Some member states understand that being unable to resolve Myanmar’s issues effectively has a lot of negative consequences for ASEAN’s reputation,” he told Myanmar Now.
He added that some ASEAN member states have engaged with the NUG and that those countries understand the NUG wants to represent Myanmar people and resolve its issues.
On Tuesday, the NUG announced that it appointed Bo Hla Tint as its ambassador to ASEAN in a bid to accelerate its engagement and cooperation with the regional association.
The 63-year-old ally of the NLD currently lives in the United States and was a member of the National Coalition Government of the Union of Burma, the government-in-exile formed by lawmakers elected in 1990 but never allowed to take office by the former ruling junta.
