Myanmar’s widely condemned election plans will loom large at this week’s ASEAN summit, but criticism is unlikely from regional nations with their own flawed records on rights and democracy, observers say.
The summit is being chaired by Vietnam, a one-party state that is accused of overseeing deteriorating human rights.
Laos and Cambodia are other members worried about setting a precedent that would make discussion of human rights more acceptable within the bloc, said Christopher Roberts, a lecturer in Asian politics and security from the University of Canberra, Australia.
PHOTO: AFP
“I think that’s a central concern,” he said.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo has said he will urge members at the talks to call for a reversal of Myanmar’s electoral laws, which he said contravene the junta’s promises to embark on a “roadmap to democracy.”
Myanmar’s opposition, the National League for Democracy, led by Aung San Suu Kyi, said last week it would boycott the ballot — the first in two decades — expected to be held later this year.
Under the new electoral laws, the party would have to expel its leader if it wanted to participate because she is serving a prison term. The Nobel peace laureate has been detained for 14 of the past 20 years.
Leaders of ASEAN’s 10 members are to hold their talks, a twice-yearly event, tomorrow and Friday.
Myanmar has always escaped formal censure from the grouping in the past and observers see virtually no chance of this meeting producing a joint statement criticizing the Myanmar vote.
“They are holding an election. Why are you complaining? This is the mentality of a lot of the ASEAN,” said Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a fellow at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
Although a big question mark surrounds the legitimacy of Myanmar’s next government, “not every regime in ASEAN is legitimate anyway,” he said.
Thailand’s military-backed government, for example, is under pressure from street protesters demanding snap polls to replace an administration they say is undemocratic after coming to power in a 2008 parliamentary vote.
The ASEAN summit comes just a few days after its host, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung, held talks in Myanmar with junta leaders.
An Asian diplomat said he expected Dung would have told the ruling generals that the elections would be under global scrutiny and “need to be credible.”
However, Dung would not have pushed the regime to allow Suu Kyi to run in the polls because Myanmar could then ask Vietnam to release its own prominent detainees, said the diplomat, who requested anonymity.
Human rights activists say ASEAN’s longstanding principle of non-interference in members’ internal affairs will undemine its ability to criticize Myanmar.
The bloc’s diverse membership ranges from communist Laos, one of Asia’s poorest nations, to the Westernized city-state of Singapore, the absolute monarchy of Brunei and the vibrant democracy of Indonesia.
“I see a growing gap in the values within the ASEAN states,” which are divided between conservatives and those — often led by Indonesia — seeking change, Roberts said.
The region is at a crossroads, said Yap Swee Seng, executive director of Forum-Asia, an umbrella for regional rights groups.
“The people are demanding more and more participation in the decision-making,” he said, adding the issue is whether regimes will be able to adapt to those demands.
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