25-7-2024 (JAKARTA) Indonesia’s Foreign Minister, Retno Marsudi, has publicly criticised the junta’s lack of commitment to a regional peace plan, highlighting growing frustrations within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) over the ongoing crisis in Myanmar.
Speaking on the sidelines of an ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting in Vientiane, Laos, Marsudi expressed her dismay at the junta’s failure to implement the five-point consensus (5PC) agreed upon in the wake of the 2021 coup. The minister’s comments, shared via social media platform X, came after discussions with her Singaporean counterpart, underscoring a united front among certain ASEAN members against Myanmar’s military leadership.
The five-point plan, which the junta initially agreed to weeks after seizing power, has been largely ignored as the military regime continues its brutal crackdown on dissent and engages in armed conflict with opposition forces. This blatant disregard for regional diplomatic efforts has led to Myanmar’s exclusion from high-level ASEAN meetings, a move that reflects the bloc’s growing impatience.
Despite the junta’s previous refusal to send “non-political representatives” to ASEAN gatherings, two senior bureaucrats are currently representing Myanmar at the Vientiane talks. This shift in stance has been interpreted by some as a sign of the military’s “weakened position”, according to an anonymous Southeast Asian diplomat speaking to AFP.
The junta’s diplomatic re-engagement comes amid significant military setbacks, with ethnic armed groups seizing substantial territory along the Chinese border in an October offensive. These losses have sparked rare public criticism of Myanmar’s top military leadership, further eroding the junta’s credibility both domestically and internationally.
As ASEAN foreign ministers grapple with the Myanmar issue, sources indicate that reaching a consensus for the meeting’s communiqué has proven challenging. A draft document seen by AFP reportedly includes strong condemnation of the continued violence in Myanmar, reflecting the bloc’s growing frustration with the ongoing crisis.
The Myanmar situation has exposed deep divisions within ASEAN, with Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines advocating for a tougher stance against the junta. In contrast, Thailand has pursued its own bilateral talks with both the military regime and detained democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, further complicating regional dynamics.
