[Tee tiong huat]

Malaysia is one of the founding members of ASEA along with Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore & Thailand.

Myanmar joined ASEAN in 1997 blessing of M'sia’s then Mahathir bin Mohamad. His moment of pride, however, was dashed early this mth. Min Aung Hlaing’s embarrassment, Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN)’s special envoy to Myanmar, Othman Hashim, declined to meet him during unpublicized visit to Naypyitaw.

Reason why he shunned junta chief remains unknown.

Sources familiar with his visit said the Malaysian side wanted a low-key trip and requested no publicity. The Irrawaddy learned that the envoy did however meet with junta Foreign Minister Than Swe in Naypyitaw. Othman, a former M'sian Foreign Ministry secretary-general, appointed as ASEAN’s envoy to Myanmar in January when M'sia assumed bloc’s rotating chair for 2025. Envoy’s role is to mediate peace for Myanmar, which has been racked by a civil war sparked by the 2021 military coup. Thailand & Philippines had previously voiced doubts about Myanmar joining the bloc unless its internal situation at the time improved but dropped those reservations to advance regional unity. Myanmar was admitted after junta chief Snr Gen Than Shwe freed opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in 1995. Myanmar’s military regime at the time had caused a rift in relations with the West and disrupted plans to hold summit meeting between European & Asian leaders. In 2016, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi became State Counsellor and led the country until the 2021 military coup, since when he has been imprisoned by the junta.

Following coup, regime has failed to honor any part of ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus for peace in Myanmar, leading to criticism bloc is not pushing peace plan hard enough. High-level junta officials are currently banned from ASEAN meetings. Diplomatically isolated and desperate for legitimacy, the regime seizes every chance to  capitalize on visits by foreign government representatives, promoting them in its propaganda newspapers and TV channels.
Last year’s ASEAN envoy, Alounkeo Kittikhoun of Laos, met both the junta boss and foreign minister during his visit in January 2024. Min Aung Hlaing also arranged for Alounkeo to hold talks with the seven ethnic signatories to the national ceasefire agreement (NCA) and political parties that had registered with the junta’s election body. In contrast. New envoy’s visit was ignored by regime-controlled media, at his request. Regime Foreign Ministry was silent on Than Swe’s meeting with foreign dignitary. Media blackout prompted speculation M'sian envoy been given frosty reception response nation’s previous tough stance on junta.

After his trip, the envoy travelled to Bangkok for equally hush-hush talks with revolutionary groups including the parallel National Unity Government (NUG) and the K2C group comprising the Karen National Union, Chin National Front, and Karenni National Progressive Party. But sources present at Bangkok meeting said it focused on 3-points in ASEAN’s peace plan: cessation of violence, delivery of international humanitarian assistance, and inclusive dialogue. One meeting participant said ASEAN envoy was more keen on initiating inclusive dialogue than supporting junta’s proposed election. However, envoy’s team expressed dismay over leak, saying it had “broken the bond of trust” between envoy & the revolutionary groups.