Bangkok - Indonesia should take a lead in hosting a regional
meeting on Myanmar's political crisis, similar to the role in played
in kick-starting the Cambodia peace-process in 1988, the
Brussels-based International Crisis Group urged Thursday.
'Indonesia could play a particularly important role, perhaps by
hosting a regional meeting along the lines of the Jakarta Informal
Meetings (JIM) which kick-started the Cambodia peace process in 1988
to 1989,' said ICG president Gareth Evans, in the think tank's latest
report on Myanmar titled Burma/Myanmar: After the Crisis.
The report, a copy of which was made available in Bangkok, urges
Asian governments to push for multi-party talks on how to solve
Myanmar's political impasse in the wake of the ruling junta's brutal
crackdown on protests led by Buddhist monks in September 2007, that
left at least 31 people dead and outraged the international community.
The proposal was immediately welcomed by longtime Myanmar watchers.
'I think it's a good idea, because Indonesia is one of the members
of the United Nations Security Council at the moment and is also the
most suitable in ASEAN to lead the process,' said Win Min, a lecturer
on Myanmar affairs at Chiang Mai University.
Win Min noted that Indonesia is now led by President Susilo
Bambang Yodoyono, a former army general who has a better chance
of dealing with Myanmar's junta.
Myanmar's military supremo Senior General Than Shwe last year
tentatively agreed to start a political dialogue with opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but the process has proven typically slow
and reflective of the junta's resistance to any threat to their
stranglehold on power, which they have held in Myanmar, also called
Burma, since 1962.
Suu Kyi in a rare meeting with her National League for Democracy
(NLD) party leaders on Thursday expressed her pessimism with the
dialogue process, advising her people 'to hope for the best but
prepare for the worst.'
The international community, led by United Nations special envoy
for Myanmar Ibrahim Gambari, backed by European Union special envoy
Piero Fussino, have been stepping up pressure on Asian governments to
hasten and broaden the dialogue process.
ICG has now also called on Asia to take the initiative.
'Myanmar's neighbours, especially China and members of
ASEAN (Association of South-East Asian Nations), need to seize the
moment,' said John Virgoe, ICG's South East Asia Project Director.
'Regional multi-party talks, coordinated with the UN Secretary
General's special envoy, Ibrahim Gambari, and backed by the wider
international community, hold out the best hope for launching a
meaningful process of national reconciliation and broader reform,'
said Virgoe.
Of course, it would ultimately be up to Myanmar's ruling generals
to agree to such a process, but observers opined that the time was
ripe to pressure them.
'They won't like it, but if ASEAN takes an initiative then China
and India may follow,' said Win Min.
Thailand pushed for similar regional talks on Myanmar, dubbed the
Bangkok Process, in 2004 when the country was still under the
premiership of Thaksin Shinawatra.
'Thaksin did not coordinate well with China, India and the other
ASEAN members so it was a failure, but the region might be more open
to such a process now,' said Win Min.
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