Singapore calls on Myanmar junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi, president

25 April 2021
Singapore calls on Myanmar junta to release Aung San Suu Kyi, president
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Photo: EPA

Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong called on the junta to release Myanmar's ousted president, as well as democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi who is under house arrest.

The Singaporean PM’s message was given at the meeting in Jakarta of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which marked the Myanmar junta leader Min Aung Hlaing’s first foreign trip since his security forces staged a coup that ousted civilian leader Suu Kyi on 1 February.

His statement was one of a number made on Saturday at the ASEAN meeting.

Myanmar's military must restore democracy and stop committing violence against citizens, Indonesian president Joko Widodo said after crisis talks with junta chief leader Min Aung Hlaing and Southeast Asian leaders.

The strongly worded statement followed a meeting in Jakarta of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), which marked the senior Myanmar general's first foreign trip since security forces staged a coup that ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi in early February.

Myanmar’s Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has become the focus of international outrage over the coup and a subsequent crackdown on dissent that has left more than 700 dead and thousands arrested including journalists, entertainers and politicians.

Small protests outside the bloc's Jakarta headquarters were dispersed by security personnel.

There have also been calls for the regional bloc to expel Myanmar.

But ASEAN generally takes a hands-off approach to members' internal affairs.

Few analysts had expected major breakthroughs from the meeting, saying instead it was a chance to bring Myanmar's military to the bargaining table and pave the way for a possible resolution.

"We have to be realistic here. I don't think the summit is going to bear out a full-blown plan on how to get Myanmar out of the conflict," Mustafa Izzuddin, senior international affairs analyst at Solaris Strategies Singapore, said before the talks.

"But rather I think it will start the conversation and perhaps lay the parameters as to how a resolution could be found."

The crisis engulfing Myanmar has delivered a major challenge to the future of the ASEAN bloc and its consensus-driven approach.

"International eyes are on (it) to see whether the regional approach that ASEAN has taken to find a resolution in Myanmar is effective," Izzuddin said.

Additional reporting by AFP