Yangon, April (23)
ASEAN has not been able to effectively implement its Five-Point Consensus over the past two years,
, which is the decision of ASEAN leaders to resolve the Myanmar crisis, said political analysts.
ASEAN leaders adopted the Five-Point Consensus to resolve the Myanmar issue at the ASEAN Summit held at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia, on April 24, 2021, after the military coup.
The Five-Point Consensus includes an immediate end to violence, consultations among relevant parties, allowing the Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chairmanship to intervene in negotiations, and providing humanitarian assistance.
The fact that the release of political prisoners, including the country’s leader, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, was initially included, but was later omitted from the officially released ASEAN Five-Point Consensus.
The Foreign Minister of Indonesia, which is the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN for this year, Rento Masudi, said at a press conference held in the first week of April that she has met with people who have not discussed before according to the Five-Point Consensus.
However, she did not disclose who and which organizations she met with, and Myanmar activists are urging ASEAN to hold official talks with the National Unity Government.
Dr. Sai Kyi Zin Soe, a political analyst, pointed out that ASEAN has not been able to do anything from stopping violence to providing humanitarian aid, and has not yet begun to draw up a plan to implement that consensus.
The ASEAN Five-Point Consensus was reviewed, 10 points were added, and a 15-point accord was made public in November of last year at the 40th and 41st ASEAN Summits held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Political analysts point out that even though ASEAN’s rotating chairman changed three times in more than two years after the military coup, the military council did not follow the Five-Point Consensus, and ASEAN only called for the junta to implement it.
After the military coup in 2021, Brunei became the rotating chairman of ASEAN, followed by Cambodia in 2022, and Indonesia took over this year.
Veteran politician U Pe Than said, ” No matter which country is the rotating chairman of ASEAN, it is only related to the decision of the member countries, this consensus does not put pressure on the military council”.
Last year, Prak Sokhonn, Cambodia’s special envoy for Myanmar, came to Myanmar at least three times to resolve the Myanmar issue according to consensus. During these trips, he also met with political parties and NCA-signatory ethnic armed organizations, including military leader Min Aung Hlaing.
But during the meeting with the military leader, Prak Sokhonn tried to get a chance to meet with the imprisoned Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, but was not allowed to meet her even after his term expired.
On the other hand, the military council is carrying out more airstrikes targeting civilians, and the fighting between the two sides remains intense.
According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), more than 3,400 pro-democracy activists and civilians who opposed the military coup have been killed, and more than 17,500 are still under arrest.
According to the latest figures from the United Nations, there are more than 1.8 million internally displaced people across Myanmar, of whom nearly 1.5 million are those who fled their homes due to conflict and insecurity after the coup.
News – Than Lwin Times
Photo: Modern Diplomacy