Welcome Guest   |  Login   |   Signup
JG Logo
Fri, February 10, 2012
Archive Search

Asean to Discuss Next Steps on Burma
Nurfika Osman | August 14, 2009

Share This Page
0
0
0
0
Share with google+ :


Post a comment
Please login to post comment

Comments

Be the first to write your opinion!

Following the extension of the house arrest of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, Indonesia and other Association of Southeast Asian Nations members plan to meet in the coming days to work out a strategy to deal with the Burmese government, a Foreign Ministry official said on Thursday.

“We are going to hold a dialogue among Asean members in a day or two, and we hope that we can decide later whether we are going to hold a special meeting or not,” said Djauhari Oratmangun, the ministry’s director general for Asean affairs.

But he added that he could not comment on the level at which the dialogue would be held.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Wednesday said he hoped Asean could convene a ministerial-level meeting soon to discuss the recent developments in Burma.

Djauhari said the regional bloc had many options in trying to secure Suu Kyi’s release, but he denied that Asean had chosen to revoke Burma’s membership in the group.

“We have not yet decided whether we are going to expel Burma from Asean because the effort to make Burma into a democratic country is an ongoing process,” he said.

Djauhari added that the extension of the Nobel laureate’s house arrest should not be seen as a failure by Asean to influence Burma’s ruling military junta.

“Don’t see the glass as being half empty. We have been doing a lot to implement Burma’s roadmap to democracy. And this won’t happen instantaneously,” he said, adding that Asean’s influence had helped reduce Suu Kyi’s sentence to just 18 months from the initially planned three years.

He stressed that Asean’s position on the issue was clear, which was that the release of Suu Kyi and other political prisoners was a must.

“All foreign ministers made the same statement last month in Phuket, Thailand. All of them want Burma to release Aung San Suu Kyi,” he said, referring to the 42nd Asean ministerial meeting held in July.

“She and other political prisoners should be released so that everyone can participate in Burma’s 2010 election.”