Indonesia, Malaysia ask ASEAN to hold a special meeting on Myanmar

JAKARTA: Indonesia and Malaysia are pushing for a special meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to discuss the situation in Myanmar where a military coup was staged earlier this week.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo conveyed the call in a joint press statement with Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin after a meeting at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta on Friday, reports Xinhua news agency.

Widodo said that he has agreed with Muhyiddin to assign their Foreign Ministers to speak with the ASEAN chair to hold a special meeting of the bloc's Foreign Ministers on the Myanmar issue.

"We discussed regional and global issues, including the ongoing progress in Myanmar," Widodo said.

Indonesia and Malaysia, he said, were concerned about the political development in Myanmar and hoping the political differences in the country could be resolved in accordance with the applicable law.

"To realize the vision of the ASEAN Community, it is important for all of us to continue to respect the principles of the ASEAN Charter, especially the principles of rule of law, good governance, human rights, democracy and constitutional governance," he added.

Muhyiddin said that Malaysia was paying serious attention to the political developments in Myanmar and agreed with the idea of holding the special meeting.

Muhyiddin arrived in Jakarta on Thursday afternoon for his first official foreign visit after becoming Prime Minister in March 2020.

ASEAN, which was founded in 1967, is a regional organization comprising 10 Southeast Asian countries — Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The military in Myanmar seized control of the country on Monday over the disputed results of the November 8, 2020, parliamentary polls in which the former ruling party, National League for Democracy (NLD), obtained more than 80 percent of the seats and increased its parliamentary majority.

Before the coup, the military detained former State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi, former President U Win Myint, along with other senior NLD officials.

A year-long state of emergency has also been declared. (IANS)

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