Indonesia president urges halt to Myanmar violence, wants ASEAN talks

Indonesian President Joko Widodo on Friday called for a halt to the bloodshed in the military-ruled Myanmar.

He also called for the Southeast Asian leaders to hold a high-level meeting to try to find a way out of the country’s escalating crisis.

In some of the strongest comments yet made by a regional leader on Myanmar’s violent crackdown on anti-coup demonstrations, Jokowi, as  the president is best known, said he would immediately call Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and urged him to call an urgent meeting.

Bolkiah is the current chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

“Indonesia urges that the use of violence in Myanmar be stopped immediately so that there are no more victims.

“The safety and welfare of the people must be the top priority. Indonesia also urges dialogue, that reconciliation is carried out immediately to restore democracy, peace and stability in Myanmar,” Jokowi said in a virtual address.

Indonesia has taken the lead in efforts among Myanmar’s neighbours to find a way out of the crisis.

Activists said that the crisis had seen more than 200 people killed in nationwide protests over Feb. 1 coup that struck a major blow to Myanmar’s fragile democracy.

Hundreds of protesters and remnants of Aung San Suu Kyi’s ousted government had been arrested, and strikes were paralysing the country.

Western countries had expressed outrage and announced sanctions over the junta’s use of deadly force.

Brunei’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Jokowi’s request.

Indonesia’s foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, was a key driver in urging ASEAN to hold a virtual “informal” meeting that included Myanmar’s junta-appointed envoy on March 2, but they failed to make a breakthrough.

The issue is complex for ASEAN, which has a policy of non-interference in the issues of its 10 members, which include authoritarian states and governments led by former generals.

ASEAN has collectively called for calm and dialogue but it is not in agreement on a solution.

So far, the strongest positions on Myanmar had been taken by the Philippines, Singapore and Indonesia.