JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) - The tiny state of Liechtenstein, with an area of just over 160 sq km and a population of less than 40,000, made a major diplomatic scoop that was seen as an embarrassment for the feet-dragging 10-member Asean at the United Nations General Assembly recently.
With the support of 48 countries, Liechtenstein drafted a UN resolution "calling for an immediate suspension of the direct and indirect supply, sale or transfer of all weapons, munitions and other military-related equipment to Myanmar".
Asean could have avoided such humiliation had it managed to show evidence of significant progress in restoring the situation in Myanmar.
Top Asean diplomats at the UN headquarters appeared to devote so much energy to defend the brutal military regime, which has killed hundreds of the country's own people, including children, jailed and tortured protesters, after it toppled a democratically elected government on Feb 1.
Asean members - minus Myanmar because the Myanmar junta withdrew the country's representative at the UN - are now preoccupied with their mission to lobby the 193 members of the UN to tone down Liechtenstein's initiative.
As reported by Reuters, Asean insisted that the draft "cannot command the widest possible support in its current form, especially from all countries directly affected in the region", and therefore further negotiations are needed "to make the text acceptable, especially to the countries most directly affected and who are now engaged in efforts to resolve the situation".
Asean had to endure the - unnecessary - disgrace, mostly because of its slow action in implementing what the regional grouping's leaders had agreed with Myanmar's junta in Jakarta two months ago.
The five-point consensus reached between Asean leaders and General Min Aung Hlaing at the Asean Secretariat on April 24 stipulates the sending of a special Asean envoy to deal with all related parties in Myanmar, and the cessation of violence and the release of imprisoned anti-government activists.
But until now, Asean's rotating chair, Brunei Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, has not formally appointed the special envoy.
Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin recently told UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that the final decision on the envoy would be issued soon.
In the meantime, Gen Min Aung Hlaing insisted that he would begin to realise the consensus after the military fully controls the country.
Asean has displayed a half-hearted effort to help bring peace and democracy back to Myanmar. Indonesia, along with Brunei, Malaysia and Thailand, was the initiator of the action to end the military regime in Myanmar.
Other members such as Thailand and the Philippines have shown little interest in joining the fray. Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, for one, is a staunch supporter of Gen Min Aung Hlaing, because he himself led a military coup.
As the biggest Asean nation, Indonesia should not let this stalemate drag on.
President Joko Widodo, with advice from Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi, needs to push Asean to immediately name a special envoy with a strong mandate.
Mr Widodo should not hesitate to act or think his initiative would "hurt" the Asean solidarity.
Should we let other countries bully Asean at international forums just for the sake of a ruthless regime in Myanmar?
- The Jakarta Post is a member of The Straits Times media partner Asia News Network, an alliance of 23 news media organisations.
