ASEAN Parliamentarians on democracy in Myanmar
Parliament 18.10.05(6)
Democratisation and national reconciliation were the subject of debate in the Malaysian Parliament in the 2006 Budget debate.
In my speech at the beginning of the budget debate, I called on the Malaysian Government to support the decision taken by the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Caucus on Myanmar (AIPMC) in a recent meeting in Bangkok urging the suspension of Myanmar as a member of ASEAN if there is no tangible and meaningful progress in democratization and national reconciliation in Myanmar in the next 12 months.
I noted that Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, when he was Prime Minister of Malaysia, had described such a possible scenario if the Myanmar military junta continued to be obstinate and refused to heed international opinion to move towards democratization and national reconciliation within the country.
The objectives of AIPMC when it was established in Kuala Lumpur in November 2004 was to deny the Chair of ASEAN 2006 to the Myanmar military junta unless there is democratization and national reconciliation, including the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and over 1,000 political prisoners.
Within a short time of its establishment (eight months), AIPMC had achieved its objective to deny the 2006 ASEAN Chair to Myanmar and has adopted a second objective in Bangkok.
In my speech, I urged the Malaysian government to play a major role to lead international public opinion on the issue of Burma.
In his reply, Foreign Minister, Hamid Albar said that democratization in Myanmar and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi are national, regional and international concerns.
He spoke of his recent two-day working visit to Myanmar on 10-11 October 2005 which gave him the opportunity to have discussions with the top leaders in Myanmar including Senior General Tan Shwe to hear their views on democratization in Myanmar.
This is Hamid’s report:
In his meetings with Myanmar leaders, they stated the commitment of the Myanmese government for Myanmar to become a democratic nation. However, it is important to them that this objective is achieved without bloodshed and that the process cannot be carried out in haste.
The Myanmese leaders say that it is not possible to achieve democracy so long as unity, peace and development do not exist in Myanmar. At this stage, they want to focus their efforts on unification of ethnic and separatist groups. They say they do not want the experience of other countries like Iraq to happen in Myanmar.
Hamid said he took the opportunity during these meetings to forward the view that in the era of globalization and rapid change ASEAN and Myanmar will continue to face various forms of pressures and challenges. Myanmar should co-operate with ASEAN, adopt a more open attitude and implement the road map which was announced on 30th August 2003. Malaysia singly or collectively through ASEAN will continue to co-operate with the Myanmar government to implement the democracy which they had promised.
Apart from their commitment to implement the roadmap, it is Malaysia’s hope that the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi will be ended as soon as possible. Her detention does not help ASEAN efforts to influence the international community not to take action against Myanmar. There are times when Myanmar raises doubts in the international community about the seriousness of the Myanmar government. The extension of Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention, for instance, has given a negative impression to the international community about the Myanmese leadership, which is to the detriment of Myanmar.
Hamid said Malaysia and the ASEAN nations take the approach that the suspension of Myanmar’s membership in ASEAN will not resolve the problems in Myanmar. ASEAN has to co-operate to encourage Myanmar to move towards democracy and to make the necessary changes.
In response to my query, Hamid said that in his several visits to Myanmar, despite repeated requests, the Myanmese authorities had never allowed him to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi. The special envoy to the United Nations has also been barred from visiting Myanmar, let alone meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi.
Democratisation and national reconciliation were the subject of debate in the Malaysian Parliament in the 2006 Budget debate. In my speech at the beginning of the budget debate, I called on the Malaysian Government to support the decision taken by the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Caucus on Myanmar (AIPMC) in a recent meeting in Bangkok urging the suspension of Myanmar as a member of ASEAN if there is no tangible and meaningful progress in democratization and national reconciliation in Myanmar in the next 12 months.
I noted that Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, when he was Prime Minister of Malaysia, had described such a possible scenario if the Myanmar military junta continued to be obstinate and refused to heed international opinion to move towards democratization and national reconciliation within the country.
The objectives of AIPMC when it was established in Kuala Lumpur in November 2004 was to deny the Chair of ASEAN 2006 to the Myanmar military junta unless there is democratization and national reconciliation, including the release of Aung San Suu Kyi and over 1,000 political prisoners.
Within a short time of its establishment (eight months), AIPMC had achieved its objective to deny the 2006 ASEAN Chair to Myanmar and has adopted a second objective in Bangkok.
In my speech, I urged the Malaysian government to play a major role to lead international public opinion on the issue of Burma.
In his reply, Foreign Minister, Hamid Albar said that democratization in Myanmar and the release of Aung San Suu Kyi are national, regional and international concerns.
He spoke of his recent two-day working visit to Myanmar on 10-11 October 2005 which gave him the opportunity to have discussions with the top leaders in Myanmar including Senior General Tan Shwe to hear their views on democratization in Myanmar.
This is Hamid’s report:
In his meetings with Myanmar leaders, they stated the commitment of the Myanmese government for Myanmar to become a democratic nation. However, it is important to them that this objective is achieved without bloodshed and that the process cannot be carried out in haste.
The Myanmese leaders say that it is not possible to achieve democracy so long as unity, peace and development do not exist in Myanmar. At this stage, they want to focus their efforts on unification of ethnic and separatist groups. They say they do not want the experience of other countries like Iraq to happen in Myanmar.
Hamid said he took the opportunity during these meetings to forward the view that in the era of globalization and rapid change ASEAN and Myanmar will continue to face various forms of pressures and challenges. Myanmar should co-operate with ASEAN, adopt a more open attitude and implement the road map which was announced on 30th August 2003. Malaysia singly or collectively through ASEAN will continue to co-operate with the Myanmar government to implement the democracy which they had promised.
Apart from their commitment to implement the roadmap, it is Malaysia’s hope that the house arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi will be ended as soon as possible. Her detention does not help ASEAN efforts to influence the international community not to take action against Myanmar. There are times when Myanmar raises doubts in the international community about the seriousness of the Myanmar government. The extension of Aung San Suu Kyi’s detention, for instance, has given a negative impression to the international community about the Myanmese leadership, which is to the detriment of Myanmar.
Hamid said Malaysia and the ASEAN nations take the approach that the suspension of Myanmar’s membership in ASEAN will not resolve the problems in Myanmar. ASEAN has to co-operate to encourage Myanmar to move towards democracy and to make the necessary changes.
In response to my query, Hamid said that in his several visits to Myanmar, despite repeated requests, the Myanmese authorities had never allowed him to meet with Aung San Suu Kyi. The special envoy to the United Nations has also been barred from visiting Myanmar, let alone meeting with Aung San Suu Kyi.
<< Home