How do you solve a problem like Myanmar?

Foreign ministers of the Association of southeast Asian Nations (Asean) debated extensively last week about the deteriorating peace and order in Myanmar, but they could not agree on how to deal with the junta, which has been undermining the integrity of the regional bloc.

Since the military violently wrestled power from Myanmar’s democratically elected leaders, no Asean member-nation has recognized the junta and even banned its leaders from attending the high-level meetings. A week before the Asean ministers met in Phnom Penh, the junta executed four opposition leaders despite appeals from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary for Asean Affairs Daniel Espiritu said that Asean ministers’ “disappointment and even condemnation and denunciation have been repeated again and again” on Myanmar junta during the recent Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Phnom Penh.

Since the military violently wrestled power from Myanmar’s democratically elected leaders, no Asean member-nation has recognized the junta and even banned its leaders from attending the high-level meetings. A week before the Asean ministers met in Phnom Penh, the junta executed four opposition leaders despite appeals from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

However, “there’s no consensus of the next steps on what to do with Myanmar,” Espiritu acknowledged.

Instead, the ministers tossed the problem to the nine Asean leaders who will meet on November in Cambodia.

“The consensus is that given the current developments, we will assess the progress on the Five-point Consensus, and, in fact, that task will be elevated to the leaders during the summit,” Espiritu said.

Asean has been criticized by some of its own members as well as other countries for doing too little to pressure Myanmar to implement the Five-point Consensus.

Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Park Sokhonn, who is also the Asean special envoy to Myanmar, had earlier said that if junta executes more opposition leaders, “then things will have to be reconsidered.”

The Five-point Consensus that

Espiritu was referring to were steps the junta agreed to undertake: an immediate end to violence in the country; dialogue among all parties concerned; the appointment of a special envoy; provision of humanitarian assistance by Asean; and a visit by the bloc’s special envoy to Myanmar to meet with all parties. Among the five conditions, Myanmar has only implemented the appointment of a special envoy. But even then, the special envoy—first from Brunei, and this year from Cambodia—were prevented from engaging with the other stakeholders such as the opposition and ethnic group leaders.

“I think it’s premature to say that the Five-point Consensus is already a failure. From the very start, the understanding is that it will take some time before that can work. But the point is that we, in the Asean, is still very much on it,” Espiritu said.

Asean members include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.