Exclusive-Indonesia to send general to Myanmar to highlight transition,
president says
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[February 01, 2023]
By Kate Lamb, Gayatri Suroyo and Ananda Teresia
JAKARTA (Reuters) - Indonesia plans to send a top general to Myanmar to
talk to its junta leaders in the hope of showing Myanmar's military
rulers how Indonesia made a successful transition to democracy,
President Joko Widodo said on Wednesday.
Southeast Asian biggest economy takes on the chairmanship of the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) this year and with it the
responsibility of trying to resolve the region's perennial problem of
the suppression of democracy in fellow member Myanmar.
"This is a matter of approach. We have the experience, here in
Indonesia, the situation was the same," the president, who is widely
known as Jokowi, told Reuters in an interview in his offices in Jakarta.
"This experience can be addressed, how Indonesia began its democracy."
Indonesia, now the world's third-largest democracy, was ruled by
military leader Suharto for more than three decades before he stepped
down amid mass protests and an economic crisis in 1998.
The military took over in Myanmar in 1962, isolating the country and
suppressing dissent for decades until a tentative opening up began in
2011.
But its experiment with democracy, which included elections swept by
Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, came to end and two years
ago when the military ousted Suu Kyi's government, reimposed strict
military rule and crushed protests.
With Myanmar again drawing Western condemnation and sanctions, ASEAN
came up with a five-point plan for it, including an end to violence,
dialogue, humanitarian assistance, and a visit by an ASEAN envoy to all
sides.
But Myanmar's generals, while paying lip service to the ASEAN effort,
have shown no inclination to implement it, and previous ASEAN envoys
have achieved little.
Jokowi, speaking on the second anniversary of Myanmar's 2021 coup, said
he was committed to the plan but added that ASEAN would "not be held
hostage" to the Myanmar conflict and if there was no progress it would
"act decisively".
He did not elaborate on any action.
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Indonesian President Joko Widodo poses
for pictures at the Presidential Palace in Jakarta, Indonesia,
February 1, 2023. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan
'EPICENTRE OF GROWTH'
Jokowi said he did not rule out travelling to Myanmar himself, but
acknowledged that dialogue would likely be "easier" between
officials from similar backgrounds.
The president declined to say who he hoped to send "as soon as
possible" but suggested the person he had in mind was involved in
Indonesia's reforms.
ASEAN has seen differences over how to handle Myanmar with some
members, like Thailand, hopeful of engaging with it through
initiatives like an unofficial forum in December that was boycotted
by half the bloc.
Other members have appeared increasingly frustrated with the Myanmar
military and are keen to maintain a ban on its top officials taking
part in ASEAN forums.
Managing rifts over Myanmar, and escalating tension in the disputed
South China Sea, will be among the main challenges for Indonesia in
its role as ASEAN chair.
As president of the Group of Twenty (G20) last year, Indonesia
positioned itself as a diplomatic bridge on the crisis between
Russia and Ukraine and managed, against the odds, to get a joint
declaration across the line at a leaders' summit in Bali in
November.
Now Jokowi will have to try to manage the various geopolitical
rivalries while keeping the region's focus on his priority of
economic growth.
"The situation is not easy," he said,
"ASEAN must continue to be peaceful region and also ASEAN must
continue to be the epicentre of growth."
(Editing by Clarence Fernandez, Robert Birsel)
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