ASEAN leaders agreed Friday to hold talks with «all parties involved,» an implicit reference also to the Burmese opposition, as part of the peace plan designed by the body as the main international mediator in the Burmese conflict.
ASEAN has indicated in a statement that it will seek «all parties involved» to adhere to and implement the ‘roadmap’ in a «flexible and informal» engagement to be conducted by the ASEAN chair’s envoy in Burma.
Thus, they emphasize «the neutrality inherent in his mandate», whereby the said envoy will be tasked with «restoring peace and stability» in accordance with the so-called five-point consensus, which seeks to reduce violence on Burmese territory.
This plan includes, among other points, an immediate end to the violence, the implementation of a constructive dialogue between all parties concerned to seek peaceful solutions, as well as the work of the ASEAN Chairman’s special envoy.
In this way, ASEAN has committed to «find a peaceful and lasting solution to the current crisis», as the situation in the country «remains critical and fragile» with «increasing violence» affecting the organization’s «building efforts».
Burma’s National Unity Government, loyal to the once ‘de facto leader’, Aung San Suu Kyi, has expressed its openness to dialogue with ASEAN and has offered its «full cooperation» for further meetings in November.
For his part, Indonesian President Joko Widodo has proposed to ASEAN leaders that representatives of the Burma Army be banned from participating in the bloc’s functions beyond important summits.
