Myanmar won’t give up Asean chair

Military-ruled Myanmar has rejected international calls that it be stripped of the chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) next year unless it takes concrete steps toward democracy.

Arriving for the annual retreat of Asean foreign ministers in Cebu late Saturday, Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win said the European Union and the United States had no right to force his country to abandon the alphabetically rotating ASEAN leadership.

Nyan Win was asked about growing opposition to his country taking the chairmanship of the regional grouping due to its spotty human rights record.

"That is their attitude. It is not ours. We can decide ourselves because we are an independent country," Nyan Win said, adding that the chairmanship "is our responsibility."

While Nyan Win claimed the other members of the 10-nation Asean feel the same way, the issue of Myanmar’s chairmanship appears certain to be the hot topic at the retreat on the central Philippine resort island of Mactan. Some of his counterparts were expected to prod Yangon to fulfill long-promised democratic reforms.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo acknowledged there were bitter debates over Myanmar, which joined Asean in 1997.

Romulo said he would reiterate calls for Myanmar to free pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, craft a constitution with inputs from the political opposition and allow a special envoy of the United Nations to revisit.

"The roadmap to democracy is what we’ve been pursuing," Romulo told reporters, adding he remained optimistic that a consensus would be reached despite the expected tough haggling.

Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy, which won elections in 1990, has rejected the junta’s democracy roadmap, which the US and the EU have denounced as a sham.

Meanwhile, Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. has proposed a power-sharing agreement between military leaders of Myanmar and the political opposition led by Suu Kyi.

"This proposal provides an exit strategy to the ruling military junta and the opposition (in Myanmar), and thus breaks the long-running political stalemate there," De Venecia wrote in a letter to Romulo before the start of foreign ministers’ meeting.

He said the proposal "goes beyond" merely seeking Suu Kyi’s release from house arrest. Instead, it should address "the fundamental political question of what happens next in Myanmar after" she is freed.

"Our proposal is for both sides to create a unity government under a power-sharing formula to hasten the process of putting Myanmar firmly on the path of democracy," he said.

De Venecia said Myanmar can consider making Than Shwe, the military junta leader, as president and head of state, and Suu Kyi as prime minister and head of government, or vice versa.

"The incumbent prime minister, Gen. Soe Win, with whom I had talks in Manila a few weeks ago, could become leader of the new parliament under the new Myanmar constitution, which is being discussed by the Burmese national convention," said De Venecia, further suggesting that both sides should reflect on a power-sharing scheme in the Myanmar cabinet and consider inviting representatives from insurgent forces.

Nyan Win is expected to brief his counterparts about democratic reforms in Myanmar during the Asean retreat.

The foreign ministers are scheduled to meet over dinner yesterday, then closet themselves for their annual informal retreat today.

They are expected to come up with a consensus on Myanmar’s chairmanship, due in 2006, which analysts warned could alienate the 10-nation bloc from its western allies.

Its Asean colleagues Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Vietnam have been treading carefully over the diplomatic puzzle, but the issue has sown seeds of division.

Asean’s newer members Cambodia and Vietnam have said they will support Myanmar’s chairmanship. Laos is likely to back Yangon as well, while Thailand has said it believes in "constructive engagement."

Exiled Myanmar pro-democracy politicians warn that their country’s military rulers would likely try to pacify international criticism with superficial reforms and more empty promises.

A Southeast Asian diplomat who asked not to be named said the issue has divided Asean. Cambodia opposes any move to strip Myanmar of the chairmanship over its internal problems, saying that would violate the bloc’s fundamental policy of noninterference in each other’s affairs.

Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore were likely to prod Myanmar to hasten reforms to ease international opposition to its chairmanship.

There is a risk that the US and the EU could threaten to stall funding of Asean development projects and boycott meetings, if Myanmar is allowed to take its turn, the diplomat said.

Asean officials said no clear solution was in sight. A number of possible face-saving solutions, none particularly palatable, have been floated during informal talks among Asean officials. One would call on Myanmar to voluntarily give up the chairmanship - which Yangon was unlikely to heed, the diplomat said.

The Myanmar issue has overshadowed other crucial topics, including the holding of an East Asian summit involving Asean’s

member countries along with Japan, China and South Korea, in Kuala Lumpur in December. There has been a debate whether to include Australia, India and New Zealand in the summit.

Asean, founded in 1967, groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It admitted Myanmar as a member in 1997 despite strong opposition from Western nations.

If Myanmar took over the rotating helm of Asean, it would host the annual summit of the Southeast Asian leaders and the foreign ministers meeting in 2007 as well as a major security forum traditionally attended by its dialogue partners including the EU and the US.

But both Brussels and Washington, which have imposed tough economic sanctions on Myanmar, have warned they would boycott Asean meets if the forum’s policies were being steered by a country with a questionable track record.

Asean Secretary General Ong Keng Yong on Saturday said he believed the issue would not fracture the grouping, citing its long-held tradition of consensus-building and non-interference. - Jess Diaz, AFP