Burma | ASEAN agrees to discuss with the opposition, the junta refuses

(Phnom Penh) ASEAN leaders agreed on Friday to “engage” opposition groups in Burma’s peace process at their annual summit, drawing the wrath of the Burmese junta, which considers its opponents as “terrorists”.

“Burma strongly opposes and condemns attempts by ASEAN member states to do business with these illegal and terrorist organizations,” the junta’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The crisis with Naypyidaw dominated discussions on the first day of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Phnom Penh, which continues on Saturday with the arrival of US President Joe Biden.

Burmese junta leader Min Aung Hlaing was not invited for the second year in a row. His absence betrays the lack of progress in the discussions that ASEAN is trying to lead to resolve the crisis in Burma, which has so far been ineffective in the face of the violence which continues to escalate.

The country remains in the throes of a bloody civil conflict since the coup d’etat of 1^er February 2021, without the crisis exit plan agreed last year between the junta and ASEAN changing its murderous course.

This roadmap, to which ASEAN remains clinging, notably includes calls for an end to the violence, and establishing a dialogue between all the actors – two points largely ignored by the army in power.

The leaders of the regional bloc spoke for the first time of “an implementation plan with concrete indicators […] and a specific timetable”, which can assess the efforts of Naypyidaw, accused of dragging his feet, to find a peaceful outcome.

It will be up to ASEAN foreign ministers to prepare this text, they said in a joint statement.

” A warning ”

The Burmese official media have already warned the regional bloc against the “negative” consequences of applying a timetable for the peace process.

Leaders meeting in Cambodia also agreed to “soon engage all stakeholders” in the peace process.

The dialogue should be led by ASEAN’s special envoy for Burma in a “flexible and informal” manner, they said.

This paves the way for talks with the “National Unity Government” (NUG), a phantom body dominated by former MPs from Aung San Suu Kyi’s party – many of them in exile – which federates the opposition to the junta.

But he does not control any territory, and the army in power has classified him as a “terrorist”.

Talking to the NUG would be a significant gesture for ASEAN, some of whose members, attached to the principle of non-interference, remain cautious with Burma.

The message was echoed by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, who called on Naypyidaw to “immediately start an inclusive process”, ahead of the meeting between ASEAN and the United Nations.

“If the situation requires it,” ASEAN leaders have warned that they could take a tougher stance by suspending Burma from all its meetings. Today, only summits between leaders and foreign ministers are closed to the junta.

“Agreement in principle” to integrate East Timor

It is “time to implement an alternative plan in view of the limited progress” seen so far, said Dan Espiritu, the Philippines’ assistant secretary for ASEAN.

Burma could continue to be in the news this weekend, with Joe Biden due to see his ASEAN counterparts on Saturday – the first leg of his Asian tour, before the G20 in Bali where he will meet Chinese President Xi Jinping on Monday. .

Premier Li Keqiang represented China on Friday at the meeting between ASEAN and its powerful neighbor.

ASEAN has also opened the door to an 11^e member, the youngest country in the region: East Timor, 1.3 million inhabitants, independent since 2002, after 24 years of bloody Indonesian occupation.

There is an “agreement in principle” to integrate the former Portuguese colony.

This enlargement could take place at the next summit, in Indonesia, which is to occupy the rotating presidency of the regional bloc.