Statement
by Lim Kit Siang - Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjong
in Petaling Jaya
on Thursday, 25th October 1996

The latest repressions by SLORC are additional reasons why the military junta’s application for membership of ASEAN should be rejected

It is most unfortunate that the visit of the Malaysian Foreign Minister, Datuk Abdullah Badawi and his meetings with leaders of State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) have made no impression whatsoever on the Myanmese military junta on the need to respect ASEAN and international opinion for progress to be made on the democratic situation in Burma.

The latest series of repressions by SLORC are in fact additional reasons why the military junta’s application for membership of ASEAN should be rejected.

The latest SLORC repressions include:

I will raise in the Malaysian Parliament next week the failures of the visit of the Malaysian Foreign Minister and the ASEAN “constructive engagement” policy to effect any perceptible progress in democratisation in Myanmar and to urge the Malaysian Government to stop being the leading proponent for Myanmar’s admission into ASEAN by next year.

25th October 1996