Myanmar gives up 2006 Asean chair; RP to take over

VIENTIANE, Laos (AP) — Military-ruled Myanmar agreed yesterday to relinquish its scheduled chairmanship of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations next year, saving the bloc from an embarrassing standoff with the West, diplomats said.

An ASEAN statement said Myanmar Foreign Minister Nyan Win told his colleagues that his government "decided to relinquish its turn to be the chair of ASEAN in 2006 because it would want to focus its attention on the ongoing national reconciliation and democratization process."

The US and European Union had demanded that Myanmar either move toward democracy and release pro-democracy campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi or forfeit its turn at the rotating chairmanship of ASEAN in late 2006.

Failure to do either would have resulted in an estrangement between the West and ASEAN, impacting trade ties, something that the Asian countries can ill afford.

The ASEAN chairmanship will instead go to next-in-line Philippines, its Foreign Minister Alberto Romulo said at a joint news conference by ASEAN foreign ministers gathered here for their annual retreat.

"The Philippines is prepared to assume the chairmanship after the term of Malaysia in 2006. With the close cooperation of the other ASEAN members, I am confident in the success of our chairmanship of the ASEAN," Romulo said in a statement from Laos and released by the Deparment of Foreign Affairs last night.

"In the spirit of solidarity and unity, the Philippines understands and fully supports the decision of Myanmar to relinquish its turn to be the chair of ASEAN in 2006," he added.

Manila will begin preparations to host ASEAN meetings by the middle of next year, Romulo said.

The military junta in Myanmar seized power in 1988. It called elections in 1990 but refused to hand over office when Suu Kyi’s party won overwhelmingly. It also has attracted international criticism for jailing hundreds of political detainees and other alleged human rights abuses.

The junta last year called a national convention to set guidelines for a new constitution as part of a process to eventually hold free elections. However, the government did not allow Suu Kyi to participate, prompting her party to boycott the convention.

The junta says, however, that it is still committed to its "road map to democracy" though it gave no timeframe for its completion.

Nyan Win, the Myanmar foreign minister, reiterated this at the news conference.

Once the national convention winds up, "we have to draft the national constitution and after that we have to make free and fair elections and after that we have to change our democratization process," he said.

He did not say if and when Suu Kyi would be released, and questions remain whether forgoing the chairmanship of ASEAN was simply an attempt by the junta to save ASEAN from embarrassment or whether it was serious about democracy.

Earlier Tuesday, UN envoy to Myanmar Razali Ismail said that Nyan Win refused to see him, saying he was too busy. Razali, who was responsible for starting the reconciliation process in 2000, had specially flown to Vientiane to meet with Nyan Win.

Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said there was no pressure on Myanmar to forgo the chairmanship, which this week is handed over from Laos to Malaysia in the group’s alphabetical rotation.

"Myanmar on their own announced to us that they have decided to forgo," Syed Hamid told reporters, adding that no minister put pressure on Nyan Win or talked about the issue.

"The decision is very positive. It shows the spirit of working together and understanding the importance of unity and cohesiveness of ASEAN," he said.

ASEAN is now looking forward to seeing the democratization process bear fruit, he said.

A coalition of Southeast Asian lawmakers who had pressed Myanmar to give up its chairmanship welcomed the announcement, saying ASEAN has "demonstrated skillful diplomacy and prudence."

"This is a good start, but it is certainly not enough and it must not be the end," said Teresa Kok, the spokeswoman for the ASEAN Inter-Parliamentary Caucus on Democracy in Myanmar.

"ASEAN must come up with a plan of action to ensure that Myanmar follows up on its commitment to bring national reconciliation." — With Pia Lee-Brago