Myanmar Unity Government Says It Must Be Part of Any ASEAN Bid to End Crisis - Tasnim News Agency

(Tasnim) – Myanmar’s neighbors have to negotiate with a newly formed government of national unity if they want to help resolve the turmoil triggered a by a Feb. 1 military coup and they should not recognize the junta, a unity government official said.

The 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has been trying to find a way out of the bloody crisis that has racked fellow member Myanmar since the military ousted an elected government led by democracy champion Aung San Suu Kyi.

The military has shown little willingness to engage with its neighbors and no sign of wanting to talk with the government it ousted.

But in the first hint of progress for the grouping, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing will attend an ASEAN summit in Indonesia on April 24, a Thai government official said on Saturday.

It will be the military chief’s first known foreign trip and meeting with foreign leaders since he seized power. The junta has not commented on the ASEAN meeting.

Moe Zaw Oo, a deputy minister of foreign affairs in a National Unity Government (NUG) set up last week, said ASEAN should not recognize the Myanmar junta.

“If ASEAN is considering action related to Myanmar affairs, I’d like to say it won’t succeed unless it negotiates with the NUG, which is supported by the people and has complete legitimacy,” Moe Zaw Oo told Voice of America’s Burmese-language service in an interview published on Sunday.

Pro-democracy politicians including ousted members of parliament from Suu Kyi’s party announced the formation of the NUG on Friday. It includes Suu Kyi, who has been in detention since the coup, as well as leaders of the pro-democracy protests and ethnic minorities.

The NUG has called for international recognition as the legitimate authority and had requested an invitation to the ASEAN meeting in Min Aung Hlaing’s place.