President Arroyo reiterated her call for Myanmar's military junta to free detained political leader Aung San Suu Kyi as part of its commitment to institute democratic reforms
- From: Chim <ChimS1@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 26 Jan 2008 12:52:08 -0800 (PST)
National (as of 1/27/2008 1:39 AM)
Arroyo: Senate won't ratify ASEAN Charter if Suu Kyi isn't freed
By MARVIN SY
The Philippine Star
President Arroyo reiterated her call for Myanmar's military junta to
free detained political leader Aung San Suu Kyi as part of its
commitment to institute democratic reforms.
Speaking at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) session
of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the President
warned Myanmar that the Philippine Senate would not ratify the ASEAN
Charter if it fails to make good on its commitment.
The President noted that when the 10 heads of state, including
Myanmar, signed the ASEAN Charter in Singapore last year, the military
junta had in effect committed to institute political reforms.
Mrs. Arroyo emphasized that the first step in the reform process would
be the release of Suu Kyi.
"We must see political reform. We must see Aung San Suu Kyi released.
Our present ASEAN knows our position on this," the President said.
"Not only are we committed to seeing political reforms in Myanmar. Our
Senate will not ratify the ASEAN Charter, unless they see real
political reforms take place in Myanmar. So we must work together to
make the tough choices to make ASEAN real and Aung San Suu Kyi free,"
she added.
The President has been a strong advocate for political reforms in
Myanmar and the release of Suu Kyi from detention.
Opposition and administration senators were united in their call for
Myanmar to follow the road map of democracy and release Suu Kyi
immediately.
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. has been pushing for
means to compel Myanmar to become democratic and to release Suu Kyi,
including the possible expulsion of the country from ASEAN.
However, several ASEAN nations have strongly adhered to the ASEAN's
policy of non-interference, which has prevented the group from taking
any action against Myanmar.
ASEAN is composed of Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,
Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Suu Kyi has been detained since the late 1980s and though she won the
general election in 1990, she was barred from assuming office as Prime
Minister by the military junta.
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