JakartaPost-Nov 11, 2022
All eyes were set on Cambodia ahead of the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits on Friday, where Southeast Asian leaders are scheduled to announce their plans to handle the Myanmar junta over the next two days, while Burmese civilians began to vent their frustrations over the bloc’s perceived inefficiency. Two months after the bloc’s Special Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (SFMM), the deadline for Naypyidaw to show improvements on the implementation of the Five-Point Consensus (5PC) has now drawn to a close – and now, ASEAN is expected to take action without its consent as suggested in the recent joint communiqué. Meanwhile, the regional organization’s dialogue partners have kept themselves busy amid tense geopolitical situations and rivalries – setting up the state for the Group of 20 meeting in Bali just four days away. Indonesia, set to take over the leadership of ASEAN for the year ahead, called on leaders to take the appropriate steps in dealing with the crisis in Myanmar, with Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi warning there was not much progress to celebrate, in spite of the many efforts the group had made to facilitate peace talks and reconciliation between the junta and the people. “The hope is that leaders could take a stance and take action in response to the situation in Myanmar, especially concerning the military’s absence of commitment in following the Five-Point Consensus,” Retno told a briefing in Phnom Penh. The Five-Point Consensus is a peace initiative signed last year by ASEAN’s leaders and junta chief Gen. Min Aung Hlaing that seeks to end all violence in the country and facilitate dialogue in the hope of reconciling the state and its people. Despite initially agreeing to the document, the junta backtracked just a few days later and has refused to abide by any ASEAN calls since. In late October, Indonesia hinted that it would start engaging with members of the junta resistance, including the National Union Government (NUG), as soon as possible and without the junta’s permission. Read more at: https://www.thejakartapost.com/paper/2022/11/11/eyes-on-asean-as-it-mulls-passing-judgement-on-myanmar.html
