Former Malaysian Minister urges ASEAN not to normalize relations with Myanmar junta

Former Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah has expressed extreme concern over the decision by the Philippines, as the current ASEAN chair, to hold an informal meeting between ASEAN foreign ministers and the foreign minister appointed by the Myanmar military junta. He stated that this meeting would amount to ASEAN normalizing relations with the junta, disregarding the junta's consistent disregard for ASEAN's efforts to resolve the Myanmar crisis. Abdullah explained that since he took office as Foreign Minister, he had stated that ASEAN's Five-Point Consensus (5PC) was insufficient to resolve Myanmar's crisis, and he had also informally proposed a new framework with clear outcomes that could effectively resolve the issue. He questioned why the junta, which has ignored ASEAN's requests for dialogue and escalated violence against its people, and whose parliament officially endorsed a resolution rejecting the 5PC on July 9, is now being rewarded with such a high-level discussion, even though it rejects ASEAN's minimum proposal. He had previously warned that the current Malaysian Foreign Minister's meeting with the junta-appointed foreign minister in parliament on June 25 was akin to normalizing relations, and he criticized the Malaysian government's silence on the upcoming meeting. He stated that he urged the current Malaysian Foreign Minister not to attend this meeting and had informed the minister by phone and text message the previous night regarding this matter. Abdullah pointed out that Malaysia should not support this meeting, as it could effectively destroy Malaysia's policy objectives of engaging with democracy activists, including the National Unity Government (NUG), the Committee Representing Pyidaungsu Hluttaw (CRPH), Ethnic Armed Organizations (EROs), and Rohingya representatives, which Malaysia pursued during its chairmanship of ASEAN.