Simonia Aida

New Appointments to ASEAN and the UN have not yet led to a Breakthrough in Relations with Myanmar

ЮГО-ВОСТОЧНАЯ АЗИЯ: АКТУАЛЬНЫЕ ПРОБЛЕМЫ РАЗВИТИЯ, 2022, №1(54), 139-159

 
Annotation: The crisis in Myanmar has also affected the beginning of the activities of high-ranking officials who recently took office. Cambodia, represented by Prime Minister Hun Sen, took over the baton as ASEAN Chairman, Singaporean diplomat Noelene Heizer was appointed Special Envoy of the UN Secretary-General to Myanmar. Cambodia's Foreign Minister Prak Sokhonn replaced Erivan Yusof as ASEAN's Special Envoy for Myanmar. The Prime Minister of Cambodia caused dissatisfaction of his ASEAN colleagues and outrage of the world community due to his visit to Myanmar a week after officially taking office. The first visit of the head of State to Myanmar after the military coup was perceived as ensuring the legitimacy of the military administration. At the same time, due to a misunderstanding between the guest and the host party on the issue of the release of an Australian citizen, the leader of Cambodia "lost face". Noelene Heizer underestimated the power of public opinion. She was fiercely attacked by opponents of the military regime because of the use of an unsuccessful thesis about the "division of power". The Office of the Special Envoy tried to "save face" by insisting that Heizer had never suggested power sharing as an option, and the interview with N. Heizer was misinterpreted. The mission of the new ASEAN Special Envoy, Prak Sokhonn, was not crowned with great success either. During his visit to Myanmar, he met only with representatives of the regime and did not meet with all interested parties, which contradicts the five-point consensus.

Keywords: Myanmar, ASEAN Chairmanship, Prime Minister Hun Sen, UN Special Envoy Noelene Heizer, ASEAN Special Envoy Prak Sokhonn