ASEAN Foreign Ministers Discuss Candidates for Special Envoys for Myanmar

[Global Times]The foreign ministers of ASEAN countries held an online meeting on the 2nd to discuss the appointment of a special envoy for Myanmar to promote the resolution of the crisis through dialogue among the parties to the internal conflict in Myanmar. Myanmar is suffering from both sides of the new crown pneumonia epidemic and political instability. In this context, the international community put pressure on ASEAN to request the organization to take action on the Myanmar issue.

According to a Reuters report on the 2nd, the special envoy candidates include Brunei’s Second Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Iriwan Joseph, former Thai Deputy Foreign Minister Verasadi, former Indonesian Foreign Minister Vera Juda, and Malaysian senior diplomat Razzari. There are many differences among ASEAN member states on the issue of the appointment of special envoys. It is reported that Erevan Joseph is most hopeful for this position, but the high-level meeting of ASEAN member states held last week failed to reach a consensus on this. The Myanmar authorities hope Verasadi will take up the post of special envoy.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Leitno Marsudi said on the 2nd that Indonesia hopes that Myanmar will approve the appointment of the relevant special envoy as soon as possible, and that this matter will be detrimental to ASEAN. She also expressed the hope that the special envoy can “freely” contact relevant parties in Myanmar. Ariwan Joseph said on Friday that he hopes that ASEAN can elect a suitable special envoy for Myanmar on the 1st. He said that without a special envoy to “lead the way”, it would be difficult to solve the Myanmar issue. The spokesperson of Sasa, Minister of International Cooperation of the Government of National Unity of Myanmar, said that the special envoy must put the interests of the people of Myanmar first, and all matters should focus on alleviating the suffering of the people. As of the press time of this paper, ASEAN has not announced the candidates for the special envoy on Myanmar.

In February this year, Myanmar President Win Myint, State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and some senior officials of the Democratic League were detained by the military. The Myanmar military subsequently declared a one-year state of emergency, and national power was transferred to the commander-in-chief of the National Defense Forces Min Aung Lai. After that, the General Command of the Myanmar National Defense Forces announced the establishment of a national management committee, with Min Aung Lai, the commander-in-chief of the National Defense Forces, as the chairman of the committee. The Associated Press reported on the 2nd that the leaders of ASEAN countries held a meeting in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, in April, calling on Myanmar to end violence and planning to appoint a special envoy to begin dialogue between the parties to the conflict in Myanmar under the mediation of the special envoy.

The day before the foreign ministers of ASEAN countries discussed the choice of special envoy for Myanmar on Monday, the National Management Committee of Myanmar was reorganized into a caretaker government, and the chairman of the committee, Min Aung Lai, served as the country’s prime minister. Min Aung Lai said on the 1st that Myanmar is ready to cooperate within the ASEAN framework and engage in dialogue with the special envoy. He also announced that Myanmar will hold free and fair multi-party democratic elections before the end of 2023.

There is a view that the caretaker government of Myanmar hopes to gain further international recognition through this round of ASEAN meetings. According to the Russian Satellite News Agency, Liao Chunyong, director and associate researcher of the Myanmar Institute of the ASEAN College of Guangxi University for Nationalities in China, said that Myanmar’s announcement of the establishment of a caretaker government before the ASEAN foreign ministers video conference was actually using this opportunity to exert pressure on ASEAN. To obtain ASEAN’s diplomatic recognition of the caretaker government in Myanmar, the second is to use this as a springboard to gradually break through the international community’s diplomatic siege of the caretaker government in Myanmar. . He believes that the extent to which the Burmese caretaker government can be recognized by the international community after its establishment will mainly depend on its ability to maintain domestic stability and contain the new crown pneumonia epidemic.