Romulo fails to secure Suu Kyi’s release

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said yesterday he failed to get any response from Myanmar’s junta leaders when he renewed regional demands for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi and a rapid shift to democracy.

Although Myanmar continues to take encouraging steps, including a decision to invite UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan and his special envoy to visit, efforts to prod the military-ruled nation to fulfill long-promised democratic reforms should continue, Romulo said.

Romulo met with the junta’s top five leaders, including Senior Gen. Than Shwe, during a three-day visit last week to Myanmar. He was the latest in a string of high-level envoys from the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations to visit the country.

In Myanmar’s new administrative capital of Naypyidaw, Romulo reminded the leaders of last month’s demand by ASEAN foreign ministers for the release of political detainees, including Nobel laureate Suu Kyi, and more democratic reforms, Romulo said at a news conference yesterday.

Romulo said his appeal was met with silence.

"We stated it, that’s the important thing. You know, you cannot force people to make a statement," he said.

According to Romulo, Myanmar’s Than Shwe said "an important milestone" would be reached before the end of the year in connection with the country’s efforts to draft a Constitution through a National Convention of political and ethnic groups - touted as a first step on its road map to democracy.

Critics have dismissed the National Convention as a sham because Suu Kyi’s party is not attending. — AP, Rainier Allan Ronda