Myanmar's Return to ASEAN Summits Still 'Far Off,' Special Envoy States

The return of Myanmar’s leaders to top meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) remains “far off,” the bloc’s special envoy said, despite the efforts of the country’s new military-backed civilian government to gain readmission. Speaking at a press conference after an ASEAN meeting in Manila, Reuters reported, Philippine Foreign Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro said that Myanmar’s compliance with ASEAN’s ​Five-Point Consensus plan for resolving the conflict was still ​being assessed. “It’s still far off,” said ​Lazaro, who is serving as ASEAN’s special envoy on Myanmar this year, while the Philippines holds the bloc’s rotating chairmanship. “There ​have been a lot of questions on their compliance.” She added that ASEAN plans to come up with benchmarks to measure progress on the implementation of the Consensus, and that “failure to meet those would constitute non-compliance,” Reuters paraphrased her as saying. “It’s still the Five-Point Consensus that is still being the foundational document that we are looking at during the discussions with the foreign minister of Myanmar,” Lazaro added. The Five-Point Consensus was formulated by ASEAN in April 2021, two months after the coup that threw the country into political and economic turmoil. As well as recommending the appointment of a special envoy, it called for an immediate cessation of violence, access to humanitarian aid, and inclusive dialogue involving “all parties” to Myanmar’s conflict. Despite agreeing to the Consensus, coup leader Min Aung Hlaing has since done little to implement its most important points, instead choosing to defeat by force the groups opposing military rule, which his regime has characterized as “terrorists.” This lack of compliance led ASEAN to bar the military’s representatives from its summits in late 2021. Since being anointed president in April, Min Aung Hlaing has pushed hard to normalize Myanmar’s relations with ASEAN – but has shown no more interest in implementing the terms of the Five-Point Consensus. Earlier this month, Myanmar’s pro-military parliament adopted a motion rejecting the Consensus as an unwarranted interference in Myanmar’s internal affairs, and that it “does not align with the current political developments in Myanmar.” Myanmar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press statement yesterday, arguing that the Five-Point Consensus “was attached as an annex” to a statement by the ASEAN chair, “without prior notification and circulation of a draft” to Myanmar. It was therefore “released without reaching a consensus among all Member States.” (For this reason, the Ministry referred to the ASEAN plan as the “Five-Point Statement.”) The statement added that the government was “obliged to respect” the motion passed by its parliament – a message that it said Foreign Minister Tin Maung Swe conveyed to his ASEAN colleagues when he met them for an “informal meeting” in Bangkok on July 12. It said that in the discussion and implementation of the Five-Point Consensus, ASEAN member states “should respect and uphold ASEAN’s fundamental principles,” such as “respect for the sovereignty of Member States and non-interference in internal affairs.” The curious thing about the current impasse is that Myanmar has grown more obdurate and defiant, right at the moment that ASEAN showed signs of adopting a more flexible policy toward Myanmar. Thailand, in particular, has pushed hard to bring Myanmar back into the “ASEAN family,” as its Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkaew put it in February. Sihasak helped broker the July 12 meeting in Bangkok, the first face-to-face meeting with the Myanmar foreign minister since the coup, a move that was criticized by human rights organizations and Myanmar opposition groups. Lazaro’s comments suggest that even though ASEAN is seemingly trending toward the reintegration of Myanmar, this is unlikely without some significant gestures of compliance with the Five-Point Consensus. Lazaro is planning to lead a mission to Myanmar later in the year. Subscribe today and join thousands of diplomats, analysts, policy professionals and business readers who rely on The Diplomat for expert Asia-Pacific coverage. Get unlimited access to in-depth analysis you won't find anywhere else, from South China Sea tensions to ASEAN diplomacy to India-Pakistan relations. More than 5,000 articles a year. Already have an account? Log in. Sebastian Strangio is Southeast Asia editor at The Diplomat. Get briefed on the story of the week, and developing stories to watch across the Asia-Pacific.