Asean ‘deeply disappointed’ with Myanmar over peace plan, Indonesia’s Jokowi wants junta banned from summits

There has been disappointment among some Asean members over the lack of progress in implementing bloc’s five-point consensus peace plan with Myanmar

During the summit in Cambodia, Asean leaders also agreed in-principle to admit East Timor as the 11th member of the regional organisation

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Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. EPA-EFE

Published: 8:30pm, 11 Nov 2022

Southeast Asian leaders on Friday forged ahead with a peace road map earlier struck with Myanmar’s military rulers but said they wanted to see a “specific timeline” for its implementation amid growing criticism that the junta was dismissive of the plan.

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo, whose country assumes the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) chair next year, meanwhile called for a broadening of a standing ban of the Myanmar military’s top officials at the bloc’s gatherings.

Only “non-political” representatives, or bureaucrats are currently allowed to attend these meetings.

“Indonesia is deeply disappointed the situation in Myanmar is worsening,” he said on the sidelines of the Asean Summit in Phnom Penh. “We must not allow the situation in Myanmar to define Asean.” The participation of non-political representation should be applied beyond the bloc’s biannual summits and foreign ministers’ meeting, he said.

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo (C) and Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh (R) attend the Asean Summit in Cambodia. Photo: EPA-EFE

Expectedly, the unrest in Myanmar loomed large as Asean leaders opened the bloc’s annual summit in the Cambodian capital on Friday.