ASEAN Secretary-General, Datuk Ajit Singh, said yesterday that he would be making a week-long visit to Myanmar next month in order to make preparations for Yangon’s admission as a full member of ASEAN. He said this would be his first visit to Myanmar as ASEAN Secretary-General.
Ajit Singh’s statement has caused pain to Malaysians as well as in ASEAN, for it shows utter insensitivity to the latest pro-democracy crackdowns by the Myanmese military junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council, (SLORC), and strengthened international opinion that the ASEAN governments are completely oblivious to repression and violation of democratic freedoms in Myanmar.
ASEAN governments must be conscious of the harm to their international standing and credibility if the ASEAN “constructive engagement” policy to Myanmar is regarded by the international community as nothing more than a cynical and unprincipled support of SLORC repression of democratic forces in Myanmar.
This is the time for ASEAN to distance itself from the SLORC regime, and not to rush in to welcome SLORC into the ASEAN family of nations as if to reward the military junta for its latest spate of crackdowns against pro-democracy forces in Myanmar.
For this reason, ASEAN Secretary-General Datuk Ajit Singh should cancel his scheduled visit to Myanmar next week to prepare for Yangon’s admission as full membership to ASEAN, by sending a clear and unmistakable message to SLORC that its continued repressive measures have created a new climate which made early approval of its application for membership in ASEAN untenable.
SLORC should be told in no uncertain terms that while ASEAN’s “constructive engagement” policy does not mean full support for actions taken by the United States and the Western nations on the Myanmar question, ASEAN is also committed to progress in political reforms and democratisation in Myanmar! It is very sad if ASEAN nations dare not even show their disapproval of the latest anti-democracy crackdowns in Myanmar and the lack of progress in political reforms and democratisation.
Ajit Singh’s visit to Myanmar next month is particularly inappropriate especially as ASEAN countries are beginning to be divided over the SLORC issue following the latest military crackdown on the opposition.
Although Malaysia has gone on record expressing its intention to admit Myanmar, along with Laos and Cambodia as a full member when it hosts the Asean ministerial meeting in July next year, the Malaysian Cabinet should reconsider the time-table and take a policy decision that SLORC must show progress in political reforms and democratisation before it would be admitted as a full member.
Otherwise, the admission of SLORC into full ASEAN membership despite spates of anti-democracy crackdowns would be a total discreditting of ASEAN’s “constructive engagement” policy.
Let the ASEAN Summit meeting on Nov. 30 reach a consensus that Myanmar’s application for full membership in ASEAN should be deferred until after 1997, pending progress in political reforms and democratisation in the next 12 months.
(5/10/96)