Myanmar’s President U Thein Sein, left, raises the Asean gavel after
receiving it from Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah during the closing ceremony
of the 23rd Asean Summit in Bandar Seri Begawan in October 2013. (Photo:
Reuters)
BANGKOK — As
the new chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), Myanmar
has to face challenges emanating both from home and from the grouping’s agenda.
How the chair handles these issues—both in terms of agenda-setting and
narratives—will determine the status of Myanmar within the region and broader
international community in the future.
Myanmar can draw best practices from Asean to maximize
the benefit it derives from its long-awaited chairmanship, skipped in 2005. To
see what is possible, it need only look at the example of Indonesia. Before it
democratized in 1998, Indonesia represented the lowest denominator within the
grouping. No Asean agreements or measures could move ahead without a nod from
its largest member. Now, 15 years later, Indonesia has taken the lead in
pushing for changes to bring Asean to new heights. Jakarta has successfully
raised the grouping’s international profile and energized overall engagement
with major powers. New ideas and frameworks proposed by Indonesia have already
strengthened the rule-based organization to ensure compliance by its members.
Indonesia’s efforts have been possible because of the
country’s steady democratic development and openness—with vibrant media and
civil society groups—as well as its willingness to discuss its own internal
issues, something long considered taboo by Asean norms. During the East Timor
crisis of 2000, for instance, Jakarta asked Asean to contribute to the
formation of an international peace-keeping force. Thailand, the Philippines
and Malaysia responded to the request as individual members. It was the first time
that Asean had washed its dirty linen in public.
Similarly, Myanmar’s ethnic issues and its religious
and communal conflicts are no longer hidden from outside scrutiny. Over the
past two years, local and international media have reported directly from affected
areas inside the country. Therefore, these problems feature high on the Asean
agenda due to their repercussions on neighboring countries and Asean as a
whole. But as the current chair, Naypyitaw could choose to suppress discussion
of these issues, as one of the prerogatives of its new position is the power to
determine the agendas of all Asean meetings from now until December 2014.
If the past is any indicator, the new chair may choose
to avoid mentioning, much less discussing, these issues completely. However, it
could also use this unique opportunity to address them in constructive ways.
For example, instead of shying away from the Rohingya refugee crisis, which has
both domestic and regional dimensions, Myanmar could voluntarily report on it to
its colleagues. It could also provide an update on the progress of the
country’s national dialogue and reconciliation efforts with various ethnic
minorities. At the Asean ministerial meeting in Bandar Seri Begawan in July,
Indonesia won praise for unilaterally reporting on its human rights situation.
Thailand and the Philippines will do the same at the meeting next year.
By openly raising sensitive issues, the chair could
establish new best practices in a way that would have regional implications.
Such updates and dialogues would help increase confidence among Asean members
in their ability to discuss sensitive issues. While this wouldn’t necessarily
lead to regional solutions to all problems, as there are still constraints on
how Asean members can work together on certain issues, such courage would
engender goodwill toward Myanmar and result in a better understanding of the
country’s domestic dynamics.
In the past, the Asean chair has called for special
meetings to deal with particular crises, such as outbreaks of avian flu and
SARS or the aftermath of Japan’s tsunami and nuclear dilemma. These actions
normally came about when Asean faced a terrible crisis and wanted to respond
collectively and quickly. But even in the absence of immediate threats, Myanmar
could work toward enhancing interactions among Asean members in a way that
would enable them to contemplate preventive and forward-looking measures.
Doing so would complement the substantive progress on
economic and political reforms that have taken place inside Myanmar over the
past two years. Democratic reforms and broader public and media participation
in debates on national policy have had positive outcomes on Myanmar’s
integration with the global community. Increased engagement between the Asean
decision makers and civil society groups would raise the status of the new
Asean chair.
Myanmar can become the region’s game changer due to
the greater interests paid to Asean by major dialogue partners, including the
US, China, Japan and India. These powers are wooing individual Asean members to
join their spheres of influence. As the chair, Naypyitaw has to make sure that
Asean stays united and focused. A divided Asean would weaken the grouping,
which is something it cannot afford. Any discord at this juncture would
undermine the grouping’s bargaining power in the global arena.
Besides domestic issues with regional implications,
issues related to traditional and non-traditional security would also be high
on the chair’s agenda. Nuclear non-proliferation is certainly one of them.
After long-standing condemnation of its nuclear ambitions and its relations
with North Korea over missile technology, Myanmar could come clean and
subsequently inform Asean that it will lobby the nuclear powers (the United
States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France and China) to sign the Southeast
Asian Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty during its chairmanship. If Myanmar
succeeded in doing this, its legacy as Asean chair would be a long-lasting and
positive one.
Kavi Chongkittavorn
Business & Investment Opportunities
Saigon Business Corporation Pte Ltd (SBC) is incorporated
in Singapore since 1994.
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