Indonesia And Malaysia Agree To Urge ASEAN To Discuss Military Coup In Myanmar

President Jokowi and Malaysian PM Muhyiddin Yassin hold a "veranda talk" at the Merdeka Palace (ANTARA / Agus Suparto)

JAKARTA - The governments of Indonesia and Malaysia agreed to urge ASEAN to discuss the political upheaval that has been taking place in Myanmar since February 1 as a result of a military coup.

This was conveyed by President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) together with Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin after a meeting at the State Palace, Jakarta.

"We also discussed regional and global issues, including developments in Myanmar", Jokowi said in a press conference broadcast on the Presidential Secretariat YouTube channel, Friday, February 5.

Jokowi said that Indonesia and Malaysia would send their respective foreign ministers to propose a special ASEAN meeting to discuss the current situation in Myanmar.

"We ask two foreign ministers to speak with the chair (chairman, red) of ASEAN to explore holding a special meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers regarding the development of Myanmar", he said.

Jokowi admitted that he was concerned about the political conditions in Myanmar and hoped that the ongoing problems could be resolved. He also reminded countries in ASEAN to continue to respect the principles in the ASEAN Charter.

"We are concerned about the political development in Myanmar and we hope that political differences can be resolved in accordance with the applicable law", he said.

In line with President Jokowi, Malaysian PM Muhyiddin is also concerned about and takes seriously the military coup that is taking place in Myanmar. He said the political upheaval in the country was a step back in the democratic process of a country.

In addition, he admitted that he was worried that this kind of political upheaval would have an impact on the security and stability of countries in Southeast Asia.

"It is feared that political upheaval in Myanmar could disturb the security and stability in this overseas area", said Muhyuddin.

"I strongly agree that the two foreign ministers (Indonesia and Malaysia, red) are given the mandate to seek an agreement so that a typical ASEAN meeting is held to discuss this matter more deeply", he added.

As previously reported, the Myanmar military under the leadership of Senior General Min Aung Hlaing staged a coup followed by the detention of Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi and President U Win Myint as well as a number of Myanmar politicians on February 1.

Not only that, but the Myanmar military also carried out large-scale arrests of a number of parties, ranging from ministers, regional heads, supreme leaders of the pro-democracy National League for Democracy (NLD) to human rights activists.

For information, a week before the military coup, tensions related to the election results increased significantly in Myanmar. In fact, since last week, the Myanmar military has carried out massive deployments of its forces to the capital cities of Naypyitaw and Yangon.

Tanks and armored vehicles have patrolled both cities. The exits from Yangon and Naypyitaw have been blocked several times. The two cities experienced large and rowdy demonstrations from pro-military supporters over the weekend.