With reports that Former Philippine president Fidel Ramos is likely to succeed Malaysian Razali Ismail as UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s special envoy to Burma this week, Burma watchers in the Philippines said that if gets appointed by Annan, it is FVR’s “chance to redeem himself” for “pressing” the entry of Burma into the ASEAN in 1997. But Burma watchers warned that they will closely watch all the actions of the former Philippine president.
With reports that Former Philippine president Fidel Ramos is likely to succeed Malaysian Razali Ismail as UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s special envoy to Burma this week, Burma watchers in the Philippines said that if gets appointed by Annan, it is FVR’s “chance to redeem himself” for “pressing” the entry of Burma into the ASEAN in 1997. But Burma watchers warned that they will closely watch all the actions of the former Philippine president.
The post has been vacant since Razali resigned five months ago, reportedly due to his purported frustrations over the junta’s intransigence. Ramos—who was Philippine president from 1992 to 1998—is reportedly the favorite on a shortlist of three potential candidates, including the foreign minister of East Timor, Jose Ramos-Horta, and former Indonesian foreign minister Ali Alatas.
Gus Miclat, regional coordinator of Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC) and convenor of Free Burma Coalition-Philippines said, “ it was a mistake when FVR backed the entry of Burma into the ASEAN in 1997, arguing that it would soften the dictators. If he would be appointed special envoy to Burma, we challenge him to do the right thing—strongly push for genuine reforms inside Burma no matter what it takes.”
“We can’t forget Gen. Ramos succumbing to another General, in 1994 when the Ramos government tried to stop the Asia-Pacific Conference for East Timor in Manila upon the biddings of then Indonesian President Suharto,” Miclat added.
The appointment of a new envoy for Burma is expected to be announced either during or after a forthcoming UN Security Council briefing on Burma by Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs Ibrahim Gambari.
“If Ramos accepts the post, we challenge him to, on the first day of his appointment; demand the immediate release of Daw Aung San Suu Ky so he can propose that he brokers a dialogue between her party, the junta and the ethnic nationalities. It’s a litmus test for Ramos. And we would like him to know that the international community—but more so Philippine civil society will closely watch and hound all his actions,” Miclat ended.
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