ASEAN special envoy visits Myanmar on a mission to facilitate peacemaking in the troubled nation

Cambodia’s Foreign Minister arrived on March 21 in Myanmar’s capital Naypyitaw on his mission as a special regional envoy seeking to facilitate peacemaking in the fellow Southeast Asian nation, which was plunged into an extended violent political crisis after the army seized power last year.

Prak Sokhonn is representing ASEAN — the Association of Southeast Asian Nations — which last April reached a five-point consensus on Myanmar. It called for the immediate cessation of violence, a dialogue among all concerned parties, mediation by an ASEAN special envoy, provision of humanitarian aid through ASEAN channels and a visit to Myanmar by the special envoy to meet all concerned parties.

The ruling military council of Myanmar, which is one of ASEAN’s 10 members, has delayed implementation of its plan, even as the country has slipped into a situation that U.N. experts have characterised as a civil war. Neither the military nor its opponents have suggested mutually acceptable compromises that could stem the violence, much less resolve the political impasse over ruling the country.

Soon after their arrival for their three-day visit, Prak Sokhonn and his party, including ASEAN Secretary-General Lim Jock Hoi, held a meeting with Myanmar's leader, Senior Gen. Min Aung Hlaing and other top officials, during which they discussed implementation of the five-point plan, conditions for providing humanitarian assistance and cooperation with ASEAN, said a statement from Myanmar's Information Ministry.

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The statement, which described the meeting as a “first step,” said Min Aung Hlaing also presented his government's versions of the events leading to the army's takeover and the violence that followed it.

Myanmar's reluctance to implement the actions urged in the consensus has caused a split among the members of ASEAN, which has ostracised Myanmar by blocking its leaders from attending major meetings of the regional grouping. Min Aung Hlaing was not invited to last October’s virtual meeting of ASEAN leaders because of the disagreement.