Saying that the junta giving up the ASEAN chairmanship is not the end of the story, Burma watchers in the Philippines today asked their government to now lead the entire ASEAN in pushing for genuine democratization of military-ruled Burma.

“Now that the military regime gave up the ASEAN chair, the Philippines now has the moral obligation to lead the region in pushing for democratic reforms in Burma. We hope that the efforts of the international community to pressure Burma to relinguish its chairmanship would not be wasted,“ Gus Miclat, Executive Director of the Initiatives for International Dialogue said.

Saying that the junta giving up the ASEAN chairmanship is not the end of the story, Burma watchers in the Philippines today asked their government to now lead the entire ASEAN in pushing for genuine democratization of military-ruled Burma.

The reaction came after Burma announced at the Minister’s Meeting in Vientiane on Tuesday that it would not assume the chairmanship of the region in 2006. The Philippines, being next in line, would instead assume the leadership of the ASEAN.

“Now that the military regime gave up the ASEAN chair, the Philippines now has the moral obligation to lead the region in pushing for democratic reforms in Burma. We hope that the efforts of the international community to pressure Burma to relinguish its chairmanship would not be wasted,“ Gus Miclat, Executive Director of the Initiatives for International Dialogue said.

He added, “Definitely, this is not the end of the struggle for democracy in Burma. This would become meaningless without the ASEAN laying the conditions for genuine political changes inside that military-governed territory. A close monitoring of political events inside Burma must be done to check if Rangoon is really sincere to institute reforms or is continue lying infront of the international community.”

“The immediate and unconditional release of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, and the rest of political prisoners is imperative. Justice must be served also to the victims of human rights violations in Burma. The ASEAN should come up with a plan of action for reforms in Burma including its detailed timeframe,“ /Miclat stressed.

IID also said that SPDC’s claim that it has reliquished the ASEAN chair because it wants “to focus its attention on the ongoing national convention and democratization process” merits the serious attention of the ASEAN leadership. ASEAN should render full attention on how the national convention is being pursued in Burma.

Miclat continued, “Let us not forget that the national convention in Burma, because it is undemocratic, and non-inclusive of key stakeholders was dismissed as a “sham” by the international community. No less than the UN Secretary General claimed that the charter talks would lack credibility without considering the voice of other political parties.”

In previous reports, Professor Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, UN Special Rapporteur to Burma on Human Rights dismissed the national convention as a “meaningless and undemocratic exercise.

“The ASEAN should be wary of some political setbacks. The junta still brags about its roadmap to democracy and the national convention is said to be its “first-step” to attain the roadmap. But what we can we really get from a political exercise that lacks democratic wisdom? What benefit can the people of Burma get from a charter talks, which sole purpose is
to further institutinalize the brutal military rule?” Miclat argued.

“This positive event in Burma politics undoutedly gave some sort of a “moral victory” for the people of Burma. But there more things to be done. The people of Burma are still suffering from the ruthless military dictatorship and the world should not just sit and watch,“ Miclat concluded.