The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) is considering giving military-led Myanmar the chair of the grouping in 2014, despite grave concerns about human rights abuses and sham democracy. Senior Asean officials gathering in Jakarta ahead of a leadership summit at the weekend said Myanmar - also known as Burma - had sought the chair of the 10-nation bloc in 2014, when communist Laos was due to take the job.
"Myanmar feels that this is it, this is their chance," an Asean diplomatic source told AFP on the sidelines of the discussions. Myanmar skipped its turn to chair Asean in 2006 due to international pressure for democratic reforms, but only on the condition that it could ask to lead the group at a later time if it felt it was ready, officials said.
Human Rights Watch said giving the chair to Myanmar - a pariah state in the democratic world and a notorious human rights abuser - would be an embarrassment for a group that is already struggling for credibility.
"Rewarding Burma with Asean's chairmanship after it staged sham elections and still holds 2,000 political prisoners would be an embarrassment for the region," HRW Asia deputy director Elaine Pearson said in a statement. "Asean leaders need to decide if they will let Burma demote Asean to the laughing stock of intergovernmental forums." Myanmar President Thein Sein has already arrived in Indonesia, the current chair of Asean, to attend the two-day summit starting Saturday.
He met Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Thursday on what is his first trip abroad as president since he was sworn in on March 30. Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa confirmed the matter would be raised at the summit but suggested that a decision would be deferred.