JAKARTA - Southeast Asian countries (ASEAN) are discussing not inviting Myanmar's military regime leaders to a summit later this month, due to lack of progress on an agreed roadmap to restore peace in the dispute-torn country, a regional envoy said on Wednesday. .
ASEAN Special Envoy for Myanmar Erywan Yusof said in his statement that the Myanmar military regime's inaction in implementing the Five Consensus Points is tantamount to a setback.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the February 1 coup led by Military Commander Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, ending a decade of tentative democracy and a return to military rule that has sparked outrage at home and abroad.
Erywan, foreign minister of Brunei's two ASEAN chairmen, said ASEAN was in deep discussion not to invite the Myanmar regime to participate in a virtual summit on October 26-28, after the issue was raised by Malaysia and several other member states.
"Until today there has been no progress on the implementation of the five-point consensus deliberation, and this raises concerns," said Erywan, citing Reuters on October 6.
Myanmar's military regime spokesman Zaw Min Tun did not respond to a phone call from Reuters on Wednesday. At a press conference last week he said Myanmar was cooperating with ASEAN "without compromising the country's sovereignty".
The bloc's efforts to engage with Myanmar's military have been criticized by democracy advocates, with a committee of members of Myanmar's ousted parliament declaring the junta a terrorist group, and saying ASEAN involvement would give it legitimacy.
However, removing a leader from the summit would be a major step for ASEAN, which operates under the principles of consensus decision-making and prefers engagement, rather than confrontation, with member states.
Erywan said Myanmar's military regime did not directly respond to his request to meet detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose government was toppled in a coup.
He added that he had proposed his visit to Myanmar to the military appointed by Foreign Minister Wunna Maung Lwin last week, but the junta had not yet responded.
Separately, a source close to the Malaysian government said the ASEAN envoy was unlikely to visit Myanmar before the summit as previously targeted.
To note, more than 1,100 people have died since the coup, according to the United Nations, many during a crackdown by security forces against pro-democracy strikes and protests, in which thousands have been arrested. The junta said the estimates were overstated and members of its security forces were also killed.
The ASEAN roadmap includes a commitment to dialogue with all parties, enabling humanitarian access and ending hostilities.
Myanmar's long history of military dictatorship and alleged human rights abuses have been ASEAN's most complex issues, testing the limits of its unity and policy of non-intervention.
But Monday's virtual foreign ministers meeting voiced disappointment about the lack of progress made by the State Administration Council (SAC) or Myanmar's military regime.
The Myanmar Coup. VOI editors continue to monitor the political situation in one of the ASEAN member countries. Civilian casualties continue to fall. Readers can follow news about the Myanmar military coup by tapping this link.
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