Asean won’t be timid on Myanmar issue — Arroyo

DAVOS, Switzerland (Via PLDT) — President Arroyo assured world leaders here yesterday that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is shedding its timidity in dealing with Myanmar and in pressing for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

However, Mrs. Arroyo and Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who both appeared at the World Economic Forum here to discuss ASEAN’s future, said the ASEAN will continue to engage Myanmar in discussions rather than enforce a policy of isolation.

"I think we are increasingly becoming more united and vocal about wanting Burma (the former name of Myanmar) to speed up its roadmap to democracy and to release Aung San Suu Kyi," Mrs. Arroyo said during a panel discussion with the Malaysian leader and Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.

"We do it out of concern for our neighbor and, indeed, we feel that ASEAN should be responsible to the whole world — not just to ourselves — about the things that are happening in our neighborhood," she told the delegates to the forum.

Badawi likewise said the ASEAN was becoming "more active, more frank" in dealing with Myanmar.

"In the beginning, we were cautious but now we’re more open and Myanmar is listening to us," he said.

But Badawi said the ASEAN was concerned with the Myanmar military junta’s slow progress in instituting changes there. He said the developments were far from the expectations of the other ASEAN leaders.

"Whatever happens in Myanmar has an effect in the region," he said.

Badawi also said the ASEAN would take action, as "we are not living in isolation" and that the grouping values a "relationship of mutual confidence."

He said the ASEAN would continue to address the issue in every meeting of the region’s leaders and officials. He also said it was "something that we never did before."

Mrs. Arroyo said this is the reason why the ASEAN leaders agreed to come up with a rules-based pro-democracy charter so that all ASEAN members will be obligated to adhere to certain universal values — like respect for human rights and the rule of law.

The charter, an agreement that will give ASEAN a legally binding personality, also seeks good governance among its members, even if the group has long adopted a policy of non-interference in internal affairs. — Aurea Calica