The ASEAN summit held on April 24th, the leaders reached consensus on the five points:
1) An immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar and all parties shall exercise utmost restraint,
2) Constructive dialogue among all parties concerned shall commence to seek a peaceful solution in the interests of the people.
3) A special envoy of the ASEAN Chair shall facilitate mediation of the dialogue process, with the assistance of the Secretary-General of the ASEAN.
4) The ASEAN shall provide humanitarian assistance through the AHA Centre.
5) The special envoy and delegation shall visit Myanmar to meet with all parties concerned
In his address, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing said: “He didn’t object to the ASEAN delegation’s plan to Myanmar to solve the problems in Myanmar, which was proposed at ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting in Jakarta of Indonesia on April 24th.
However, ASEAN’s failure to invite or even consult with the people-backed NUG (National Unity Government) demonstrated the regional body’s one-sided approach, which failed to address the political reality inside Myanmar.
As the shooting of demonstrators and a catalogue of crimes against humanity was coming from only one side in the conflict, the NUG prime minister Mahn Win Khaing Thann strongly objected to Asean point1: referring to the violence that read “all parties shall exercise utmost restraint.”
He also noted that the five points failed to call for the release of the 3441 political prisoners currently in detention but went onto thank two Asean member Indonesia and Singapore who did call for their release.
Asean’s efforts were also seen as falling short in their failure to present any kind of time-frame for Myanmar’s military regime to comply with these five points.