Commander-in-Chief of Myanmar’s armed forces, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN, Oct 16 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Myanmar’s junta chief will be excluded from an upcoming ASEAN summit, the group said Saturday, a rare rebuke as concerns rise over the military government’s commitment to plans on defusing a bloody crisis.
Foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations at an emergency meeting late Friday agreed that Min Aung Hlaing will not be invited to the Oct 26-28 summit, current ASEAN chair Brunei said.
A non-political representative from Myanmar will be invited to the summit effectively sidelining the leader of the military junta that seized power earlier this year.
The decision follows the failure of Myanmar’s army to adhere to a peace roadmap it had agreed with the southeast Asian bloc following the coup in February.
More than 1,000 civilians have been killed by security forces and thousands arrested, according to the United Nations, during strikes and protests over the coup.
The takeover ended a decade of tentative democracy in Myanmar and prompted international condemnation and sanctions.
At an emergency meeting late Friday in Brunei, foreign ministers of the regional bloc agreed that Min Aung Hlaing will not be invited to the Oct 26-28 summit.
It said some member states recommended giving “space to Myanmar to restore its internal affairs and return to normalcy.”
Instead, it was decided “to invite a non-political representative from Myanmar” to the summit, “while noting the reservations from the Myanmar representative”, the statement added.
Brunei said some member states had received requests from Myanmar’s National Unity Government, formed by opponents of the junta, to attend the summit.
Myanmar, which is a member of the ASEAN regional group, agreed during emergency talks in April that would adhere to a peace roadmap aimed at tackling the fallout from the coup and ending the bloody violence.
ASEANS’s statement Saturday cited “insufficient progress” in the implementation of the five-point plan.
A long-planned visit by ASEAN’s envoy to Myanmar Erywan Yusof has also been delayed in recent weeks.
Erywan has insisted on meeting all parties, including deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been detained on various charges since the coup.
Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said this week Erywan would be welcome in the country but would not be allowed to meet Suu Kyi.
International pressure has been building on ASEAN to take a tougher position on Myanmar’s failure to take the agreed steps to end the violence, allow humanitarian access and start dialogue with its opponents.
The decision marks a shift for ASEAN, which has traditionally favoured a policy of engagement and
non-interference. — NNN-AGENCIES
