Myanmar leader says ASEAN blind to opposition’s violence
Myanmar junta chief says ruling military was commited to peace, democracy and blames opponents for extending unrest; Myanmar to free over 5,000 protesters
Myanmar’s junta chief on Monday said that the ruling military was commited to peace and democracy, and that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) should consider the provocations and violence being carried out by its opponents.
In his first comments since Myanmar’s neighbours decided to exclude him from an upcoming ASEAN summit over a lack of commitment to its five-point roadmap, Min Aung Hlaing reiterated the junta’s own five-stage plan to restore democracy.
Min Aung Hlaing, who led the Feb.1 coup that plunged Myanmar into deadly chaos, made no mention of the ASEAN decision, but suggested the outlawed National Unity Government (NUG) and armed ethnic groups were trying to sabotage the ASEAN-LED peace process.
“More violence happened due to provocations of terrorist groups,” Min Aung Hlaing said in a speech on television, where he appeared in civilian atire.
“No one cares about their violence, and is only demanding we solve the issue. ASEAN should work on that.”
ASEAN decided to invite a non-political representative from Myanmar to its Oct.26-28 summit, in an unprecedented snub to the military leaders behind the coup against Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government.
Min Aung Hlaing said Myanmar wanted ASEAN’S special envoy, Erywan Yusof, to visit the country as agreed, but some of his demands were non-negotiable. He did not elaborate.
The NUG, a broad alliance of anti-coup groups that includes members of Suu Kyi’s ousted ruling party, has backed the training and formation of militias called “People’s Defence Forces” behind atacks on security forces in several regions of the country.
The NUG recently declared a nationwide rebellion against military rule.
The shadow government on Monday welcomed ASEAN’S exclusion of the junta leader, but said the NUG should be the legitimate representative.
“ASEAN excluding Min Aung Hlaing is an important step, but we request that they recognise us as the proper representative,” said its spokesman Dr. Sasa.
However, he said the NUG would accept inviting a truly neutral alternative Myanmar representative.
ASEAN’S decision was an unusually bold step for the consensus-driven bloc, which traditionally favours a policy of engagement and non-interference.
Brunei, ASEAN’S current chair, issued a statement citing a lack of progress on a roadmap that the junta had agreed to with ASEAN in April.
A spokesman for the military government at the weekend blamed “foreign intervention” for the decision.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the coup, which ended a decade of tentative democracy and economic reform. Thousands of its opponents have been arrested, including Suu Kyi.
Security forces have killed more than 1,100 people, according to activists and the United Nations.
Myanmar’s junta chief on Monday announced the release of more than 5,000 people jailed for protesting against a February coup, days ater a regional bloc delivered a major snub to the military regime.
It said the decision was on humanitarian grounds, and blamed the shadow government for causing the unrest.
A total of 5,636 prisoners will be freed to mark the Thadingyut festival later in October, Min Aung Hlaing said, days ater he was excluded from a regional summit over his government’s commitment to defusing the bloody crisis.
Myanmar has been mired in chaos since the coup, with more than 1,100 civilians killed in a bloody crackdown on dissent and more than 8,000 arrested according to a local monitoring group.
More than 7,300 are currently behind bars across the country, according to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners.
The junta chief gave no details on who would be included in the list and prison authorities did not respond to AFP requests for comment.
Myanmar authorities released more than 2,000 anti-coup protesters from prisons across the country in July, including journalists critical of the military government.