Jakarta – Indonesia is making every effort to help the people of Myanmar out of the political crisis based on the Five-Point Consensus (5PC), which has been agreed upon by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
The Five-Point Consensus is a decision by ASEAN leaders through a special meeting, which was also attended by Myanmar junta leader General Min Aung Hlaing, to help Myanmar overcome its political crisis.
The Five-Point Consensus calls for a cessation of violence, dialogue with all stakeholders, appointing special envoys to facilitate mediation and dialogue, allowing ASEAN to provide humanitarian assistance to Myanmar citizens, and allowing ASEAN special envoys to visit and meet with stakeholders in Myanmar.
“Trust must be built among stakeholders in Myanmar to open the possibility of an inclusive dialog,” Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi said in a written statement after a bilateral meeting with Mongolian Foreign Minister Battsetseg Batmunkh in Ulaanbaatar, Wednesday (28/6/2023).
Retno said that the continuing violence in Myanmar must be condemned, and ASEAN is committed to providing humanitarian assistance based on the principle of “leaving no one behind”.
As ASEAN chair this year, Retno ensured that Indonesia would do its best to make ASEAN important, make ASEAN continue its role as a contributor to peace and stability in the region, and make Southeast Asia an epicenter of growth.
Retno emphasized that Indonesia is currently preparing for the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting and Post Ministerial Meeting or AMM/PMC, where Mongolia is one of the members of the ASEAN Regional Forum (ARF) which includes the AMM/PMC series.
Previously, the Myanmar issue was considered to have “divided ASEAN” after Thailand recently initiated an ASEAN foreign ministerial meeting in Pattaya, inviting representatives of Myanmar’s political junta.
The government of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha argued that Thailand was forced to take this step because the direct impact it faces from the Myanmar crisis is far more real and greater than that felt by other ASEAN countries, given that Thailand has a very long border with Myanmar.
However, several ASEAN member states, including Indonesia, refused to attend the meeting.
Indonesia considers that Myanmar’s approach of involving only one of the parties involved in the political conflict in Myanmar violates the mandate of the 5PC.
The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, Thomas Andrews, said last week that the Pattaya meeting could have the dangerous effect of legitimizing the junta and undermining ASEAN unity.
