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UN envoy backs call for pressure on Myanmar

"They want to know how soon we are going to be able to see democratic institutions in Myanmar."

Razali Ismail, UN envoy to Myanmar

Southeast Asian governments should heed a move by Malaysian lawmakers to push harder for democratic reforms in Myanmar, the UN's envoy to the military-ruled country said yesterday.

The comments by Razali Ismail, a respected Malaysian diplomat, came a day after the country's leader distanced his government from a parliamentary proposal to block Myanmar from assuming leadership of the region's top trade and diplomatic group.

Lawmakers -- including some government members -- plan to introduce a motion in parliament on April 28, urging ASEAN to deny Myanmar chairmanship of the bloc unless pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi is released from house arrest and a timetable is set for political reforms. Myanmar is due to take over the group's revolving chairmanship next year.

"It is a fair point by the parliamentarians to make, that they want to know how soon we are going to be able to see democratic institutions in Myanmar, and when political detainees could be released including Aung San Suu Kyi," Razali told reporters.

"All governments in ASEAN should take into account that the present situation in Myanmar is, from the parliamentarians' point of view, not satisfactory," he said.

Myanmar has been ruled by the military since 1962. The current junta called elections in 1990, but refused to hand power when Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy won a landslide victory. Suu Kyi, a Nobel peace laureate, has been under arrest since May 2003.

On Tuesday, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said his government still believes in a policy of constructive engagement with Myanmar, and that any decision by ASEAN would be a consensus. Malaysia helped bring Myanmar into ASEAN in 1997.

Constructive engagement involves encouraging Myanmar's generals to make reforms by the country engaged in regional trade and politics. In contrast, many Western countries have backed demands for reform with sanctions.
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