Aung San Suu Kyi is ‘indispensable’ in Myanmar peace process, Philippines says

Philippine foreign secretary Teodoro Locsin has condemned last week’s sentencing of Suu Kyi and accused the military of using the judicial system to crush opponents

His statement comes as Asean members turn up the heat on the Myanmar junta to push for progress on a five-point consensus for peace

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Published: 9:30pm, 16 Jan 2022

Deposed Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi is “indispensable” in restoring democracy to the military-ruled country and must be included in any peace talks, regardless of her conviction, the Philippines’ foreign secretary said on Sunday.

In a strong rebuke of the Myanmar junta that overthrew Suu Kyi’s elected government last year, Teodoro Locsin condemned last week’s sentencing of the Nobel laureate and accused the military of using the judicial system to crush its opponents.

Locsin said he would “adopt” verbatim the remarks of Norwegian Foreign Minister Anniken Huitfeldt in demanding the junta free political prisoners, halt violence and respect human rights.

“I am deeply concerned about the suffering of the civilian population,” Locsin said in a statement. “We also call on the military leadership to participate in an inclusive dialogue and resume the democratic transition process.”

His statement comes as Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) members turn up the heat on the Myanmar military after a turbulent end to 2021, during which junta boss Min Aung Hlaing was excluded from a leaders’ summit for failure to honour commitments to an Asean-led peace plan.

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