CONTINUOUS FAILURE
Several months after the coup, ASEAN members and the Myanmar junta agreed upon the Five Point Consensus.
This included an immediate end to violence in the country, dialogue among all parties, the appointment of a special envoy, humanitarian assistance by ASEAN and a visit to Myanmar by the envoy to meet with all parties.
This has become the primary reference for ASEAN’s conflict resolution approach in Myanmar.
However, until now, the junta has largely ignored the consensus, leading to a rift within ASEAN over how to further engage the junta.
The four-day high-level conference still resulted in no significant progressing in resolving Myanmar crisis except calling for “inclusive dialogue in Myanmar”. There is no clear time frame and outputs achieved during the conference.
This has raised doubts over the ASEAN’s capability to make visible peace progress in resolving the conflict especially during Indonesia’s time as chair.
Last month, Thailand and Laos held a closed informal meeting with the junta in Thailand to explore “alternative solutions”.
The meeting received mixed receptions from other ASEAN member states. Some accused the Thai government of sabotaging Indonesia’s efforts.
Meanwhile, Myanmar’s opposition group released a statement criticising ASEAN’s “continued” failure to resolve the crisis.