Myanmar junta defends response to crisis amid Southeast Asian criticism

The Myanmar junta’s foreign minister had defended its plan for restoring democracy, state media reported on Tuesday, after a meeting at which Southeast Asian counterparts pressed the army to implement a regional agreement meant to end turmoil.

The junta has paid little heed to demands from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to respect a “consensus” agreed in late April to end violence and hold political talks with its opponents.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers expressed disappointment at the meeting in China on Monday at the “very slow” progress made by Myanmar on its proposal for ending the turmoil since the army overthrew elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi on Feb. 1.

State media cited junta-appointed foreign minister Wunna Maung Lwin as telling the ASEAN-China foreign ministers’ meeting that the military had made progress on its own five-step roadmap for the country unveiled after its coup.

“The minister apprised the meeting that the only way to ensure the democratic system that is disciplined and genuine was through the five-point future programme that was declared in February,” the Global New Light of Myanmar reported.

via Reuters