Myanmar junta rejects push for new Asean envoy to meet opponents
- Cambodia’s Prak Sokhonn suggested meeting a group of ousted lawmakers amid attempts to break a year-long political stalemate since the coup
- Myanmar’s Foreign Ministry said it would not agree to the envoy engaging with ‘unlawful associations and terrorist groups’ which were ‘perpetrating violence’
With little sign of the junta implementing a five-point peace plan agreed upon with Asean last year, which included an immediate end to hostilities and letting a special envoy facilitate dialogue, growing divisions have emerged in the 10-member bloc over how to restore stability.
“The ministry notes that while some deliberations were constructive on the implementation of the five-point consensus, two members have suggested special envoy to engage with unlawful associations and terrorist groups,” Myanmar’s ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement.
In its first public response to last week’s Asean meeting, the ministry said suggesting the envoy engage with such groups was “not only contrary to the principles of the Asean charter but also undermine Asean’s counterterrorism efforts”.
Representatives from the military-controlled government haven’t been invited to Asean meetings since late last year.
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Myanmar has been in crisis since the overthrew an elected government a year ago, with more than 1,500 civilians killed in a crackdown against junta opponents, according to figures cited by a Thai-based activists group.