00:00The five-point consensus reflects ASEAN's long-standing principle of non-interference.
00:06But years on, progress on the Myanmar crisis remains limited.
00:10Dr. Foydi Pitswan from the Surin Pitswan Foundation stresses the need to rethink its implementation
00:16and whether ASEAN can explore new approaches while staying true to its values.
00:24The five-point consensus hasn't progressed as well.
00:29Some people said that it has failed.
00:32I think I have to say that you have to understand that the five-point consensus is a license to intervene.
00:41It's a license to intervene. It is very important.
00:44We talk a lot about non-interference, but if you look at the document,
00:48the ability for ASEAN leaders to agree to that statement is an achievement.
00:53The problem is not the achievement.
00:55The problem of the wording of the five-point consensus, the problem is the delivery of it,
00:59the implementation of it, the execution of it.
01:03And it's not correct to just expect one single country, one chair to solve the problem in one year.
01:11So what we may actually need is a roadmap of each year what each chair should do, right,
01:20so that Malaysia come in and then, okay, Malaysia do this.
01:24And then next year, when the Philippines takes over, this is what Philippines should do in next year.
01:29And I think this is very important in order to realize, because this is a 20, 30-year project, right,
01:35to help our Myanmar people achieve their dream, achieve the stability that they need.
01:41It's a long-term project.
01:43And I don't think we can expect Malaysia to do everything, to solve everything by this year.
01:48The fact that the PM is engaged on this, wanting to do more, is already very good.
01:55And then the discussion on appointing a permanent envoy, a longer term, not just a yearly basis, is a good initiative.
02:03And I hope that is agreed on and pushed through, because it will allow for a continuity on how ASEAN deal with the issue.
02:12And that is one that has been discussion on Troika.
02:16Troika means the chair will work together with the former chair and the future chair.
02:21This will help with continuity as well.
02:25And the most progressive proposal that I want to make is, you know, in the ASEAN Charter,
02:31there is ASEAN 50, which call for ASEAN Charter to be reviewed every five years.
02:38And I don't think that has really been triggered or been actually followed through.
02:42And I think we ought to look at ASEAN Charter of how we could improve it, what is lacking.
02:47One particular issue is the principle of non-interference, right?
02:51Yes, we understand.
02:53We have, we are committed, we should be committed to principle of non-interference,
02:57but there should be some room to navigate.
03:00For example, principle, we could agree, we could commit to principle of non-interference unless or but some caveat,
03:10some space to manoeuvre, for example, on issue of crime against humanity, genocide, on big issues like this.
03:17Maybe there may be, there may be some way to circumvent this principle.
03:22And in reality, it's a myth that ASEAN adhere to principle of non-interference.
03:29Because if you look at 1978, we, ASEAN and Thailand, intervened in the Cambodian crisis then.
03:36In 1999, ASEAN, some members of ASEAN worked together with Australia to intervene in the East Timor crisis.
03:45In 2005, ASEAN worked together with EU to implement ASEAN monitoring mission in the ASEAN conflict.
03:56In 2008, we went into Myanmar to help with the cyclone narcus relief.
04:01So the belief that we adhere to principle of non-interference is a myth.
04:06And I hope we do find ways to do more in Myanmar, even though it may borderline interference,
04:14but there are diplomatic ways to do it and still gain respect by the international community
04:26because they really want us to be able to solve this issue.
04:29And if we can solve this issue, I think ASEAN will have, the world will have one less issue to worry about.
04:36I don't really want to internationalize this.
04:39There has been talks about bringing the U.S. in, and I don't think that the U.S. will not be interested,
04:45and I think that is a blessing in disguise.
04:47I think the matter should be kept within ASEAN, and I think if we can work together
04:52towards restoring some semblance of stability, and even beyond stability,
04:58helping Myanmar people achieve their hopes and dreams,
05:02we can envision the end state of what we see in Myanmar
05:05and help them achieve that.
05:07I think that would be a big, big achievement for ASEAN, and it can start with Malaysia.
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