ROAD AHEAD UNCERTAIN
Yet Naypyidaw is also sending mixed signals.
Earlier this month, Myanmar’s parliament passed a motion calling for the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus to be rejected, with lawmakers arguing that the bloc has failed to acknowledge the country’s reform efforts and that the plan no longer reflects Myanmar’s political landscape.
The opposition National Unity Government (NUG), however, has called on ASEAN to step up efforts to implement it.
“This is the time to implement and to put more pressure on … operationalising the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus,” said NUG’s Foreign Minister Zin Mar Aung.
“Engagement with the democratic and resistance stakeholders must become regular and coordinated and politically meaningful.”
As ASEAN continues engaging Myanmar under current conditions, observers say the meetings risk being interpreted as lending legitimacy to the country’s new government.
“Some countries have another position, which is engagement without recognition,” said Sharon Seah, principal fellow at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute.
“They want to help build some bridges of communication with the new government, but yet at the same time, there’s a problem of according formal recognition.”
Still, experts said Myanmar is likely to present such interactions as diplomatic progress.
“From Myanmar’s point of view, there is no difference – engagement is engagement,” said Seah.
“I suppose, from a very macro perspective, is this signal that there are other countries willing to cooperate with Myanmar,” she added.
“For investors – without looking into the details – they will see that maybe Myanmar is prepared to transition to a path of normalcy, as opposed to what has happened in the last five years.”
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