Analysis | Is Asean’s Myanmar five-point consensus workable, and what is next?

Asean leaders and Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing on Saturday agreed on five issues, including ending violence and holding constructive talks

Analysts say not mentioning the release of prisoners like Aung San Suu Kyi or the role of the National Unity Government may have been a compromise to achieve the five points

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Indonesian President Joko Widodo, centre, with Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto, and Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung behind him, delivers his statement following the Asean meeting in Jakarta on Saturday. Photo: AP

Published: 10:00pm, 25 Apr 2021Updated: 10:31pm, 25 Apr 2021

The consensus forged between Southeast Asian leaders and Myanmar’s junta leader Min Aung Hlaing to de-escalate his country’s post-coup crisis has come under scrutiny a day after it was forged at a summit in Jakarta.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) said after the talks on Saturday that the bloc had agreed on five issues: ending violence, constructive talks among “all parties concerned”, the sending of aid to Myanmar, the appointment of a special envoy to facilitate talks, and for the envoy to be allowed visits to the country.

The army chief, who made his first international trip since seizing power on February 1 from the democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD), is said to have agreed to these points.

Detractors of the talks noted that the so-called “five-point consensus” lacked mention of the need for the junta to immediately and unconditionally release NLD leader Aung San Suu Kyi, President Win Myint and other senior elected figures currently in military custody.

Instead, a statement released by Brunei as the current Asean chair merely said “we also heard calls for the release of all political prisoners including foreigners”.

Since the coup, Suu Kyi – who was the de facto head of government – has been charged with offences deemed dubious by rights groups, including for allegedly illegally importing walkie talkies.

The consensus was also forged without the presence of the National Unity Government (NUG) – a grouping of NLD figures and civil activists currently in exile or evading capture who say they are the rightful government of Myanmar.

Here are the main areas of discussion among observers following Saturday’s talks.

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