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Washington To Look At Additional Steps To Pressure Myanmar To Revert To Democracy

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Antony J. Blinken, Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah


Washington to look at additional steps to pressure Myanmar to revert to democracy

BERNAMA

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 15 -- United States (US) Secretary of States Antony J. Blinken said Washington would look at additional steps and measures to be taken to pressure Myanmar’s regime to put the country back on a democratic trajectory.


He also urged the regime to implement and follow the 5-Point Consensus set and agreed upon by the ASEAN leaders in ending the political crisis in Myanmar, adding that despite these efforts, the situation in the country has continued to worsen.


“I think it is important that in weeks or months ahead, we need to look at what are the additional steps or measures that we can take individually, collectively to pressure the regime to put the country back on a democratic trajectory, including the release of political prisoners, end the violence and (give) access to humanitarian assistance and workers,” he said.


Blinken said this in a joint news conference with Foreign Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah at the latter’s office here, Wednesday. Blinken is on a two-day official visit to Malaysia as part of his maiden tour to three countries in the Southeast Asia region - Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.


Meanwhile Saifuddin said the developments in Myanmar would be the focus during the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ retreat, to be held in Cambodia next month, where the ministers were expected to discuss on the commitment and milestones made to the 5-Point consensus.


“We should be looking at the real next steps, identify the real milestones made. We have the 5-Point consensus but we do not identify exactly when certain things need to be achieved and how.


“So outlining the actual steps and actual milestone as to the dates and the outcomes would be important decision we try to arrive at the meeting,” he said. 


Saifuddin added that ASEAN, as a whole, also need to do some soul searching as to how the bloc is to go about in implementing its consensus.


He said although ASEAN prides itself on upholding the principle of non-interference, it cannot keep going on as such.


“ASEAN should also look at the principle of non-indifference because what is happening in Myanmar is already getting out of Myanmar,” he said, referring to the Rohingya crisis where Malaysia is currently hosting almost 200,000 Rohingya refugees from the country.


“Perhaps there are Plan A, Plan B or Plan C. You cannot just stick to one and that one is not working and you still want to stick to it,” he added.


ASEAN foreign ministers in an unprecedented move had barred Myanmar junta chief from attending the annual ASEAN Summit in October over the junta’s lack of actions in carrying out the 5-Point consensus plan it agreed in April.


ASEAN, formed in 1967, today, consists of 10 member states namely Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.


In April this year, ASEAN came up with the 5-point consensus to tackle the deteriorating socio-political situation in the country following the Feb 1 military coup that unleashed a spate of confrontations between civilians and security forces leaving more than 1,000 people dead. 


On the same note, Blinken said the political crisis in Myanmar is also expected to be discussed at a special summit with ASEAN leaders hosted by Washington next year. 


“What we've seen over the last year in Myanmar, the reversal of its democratic trajectory, depression, violence that ensued, the human suffering as well as the very difficult humanitarian situation, I think it’s a deep concern to every member of ASEAN and to the United States.


Elaborating further, the Secretary of State said the summit is also a reflection of Washington’s view on ASEAN as the essential regional architecture of the Indo Pacific.


He said the US and ASEAN have a shared vision on the peace and the future of Indo Pacific region that is aligned very closely with ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific.




 

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