NST Leader: Time for Myanmar to change

New Straits Times

27-05-2025

WESTERN analysts are no fan of Asean. Because, to quote The Economist, it has "the irritating habit of talking around the big issues". Hard to disagree.
But Malaysia's call on Asean to speak "firmly and collectively" in defence of international law, citing the Gaza and Myanmar crises as tests of the bloc's moral responsibility will surely win some fans.
Speaking at the Asean Foreign Ministers' Meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan said the bloc must not remain on the sidelines in the face of global injustices. Blame the silence on Asean's consensus-based decision-making and its principle of non-interference.
To issue a statement on any issue, it would require all the 10 countries to agree, a near impossibility.
On most issues, it has been a tug of war between one group and another. One wonders where the Asean spirit fled to. At the most, if consensus is what drives its decision, then the world has to get used to "the irritating habit of talking around the big issues".
This is of no help to anyone, most of all to Asean. This must change if the bloc wants to defend the oppressed, a call that Malaysia has made to Asean. We needn't go far to find the oppressed.
They are within Asean in Myanmar. For more than four years the bloc has been trying to get the military junta, which overthrew an elected government in February 2021, to stop the atrocities there through the five-point consensus (5PC).
But the military leaders have shown no interest in implementing it. There is a reason why the 5PC is badged consensus; military regime leader General Min Aung Hlaing himself signed the document.
Frustrated by the recalcitrance of the military junta and Asean's inability to stop the atrocities in a member country, Malaysia is emerging as a vocal advocate for change, including a reconsideration of its principle of non-interference.
If the military regime continues to ignore the 5PC, suspension of membership may be next. Malaysia is right.
Asean cannot remain on the sidelines when atrocities are being committed against its people. More than four years is long enough to show that whatever Asean is doing now is not effective. The bloc can't keep doing the same thing and expect different results.
Already more than 10,000 people have been killed — local news portals and Western media, The Economist included, call the killings massacres. Not to mention the millions of Rohingya who have fled to Bangladesh, putting great strain on the country's limited resources.
Malaysia, Indonesia and others are also forced to house the Rohingya refugees. These are war crimes, yet some Asean members continue to be silent. If Asean's past is our guide, Malaysia's call for change in diplomacy may face some hurdles. Myanmar itself isn't the problem; currently it has no voting rights.
The challenge will come from a few countries that are aligned with Myanmar. As consensus is still the ruling principle, it will require the agreement of all nine members.
These few will certainly challenge the proposal for change. But they must remember that they are helping Min Aung Hlaing damage Asean's reputation.