Myanmar coup: Indonesia to send top general to highlight country's transition to democracy

Indonesian President Joko Widodo said he plans to send one of the country’s top generals to Myanmar in an effort to highlight how Indonesia successfully shifted into a democracy from military rule. This comes as Indonesia is this year’s chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations grouping, taking on the task of trying to resolve the unrest taking place in Myanmar.

In an interview with Reuters in Jakarta on Wednesday, the Indonesian leader, popularly known as Jokowi, said he plans to send a top general to Myanmar in an effort to engage with the junta. Jokowi cited Indonesia’s experience and while he did not rule out visiting Myanmar, he explained how the dialogue would be easier if it was between officials of similar backgrounds.

“This is a matter of approach. We have the experience, here in Indonesia, the situation was the same,” said Jokowi, who did not name the general, but suggested that the official was involved in the country’s reforms. “This experience can be addressed, how Indonesia began its democracy.”

Indonesia, which is now the third-largest democracy in the world, was under military rule by leader Suharto for more than 30 years until stepping down in the midst of mass protests and an economic crisis in 1998.

Myanmar’s military took control of the country in 1962 until a tentative opening for democracy was made in 2011. However, in 2021, the country’s generals staged a coup and seized power from the elected government, ousting leader Aung San Suu Kyi and reimposing its strict rule leading to protests that resulted in bloody crackdowns.

ASEAN drafted a five-point peace plan in an effort to end the violence, but the bloc has expressed frustration with the little to no progress shown by the junta. Jokowi said he was committed to the peace plan, but warned that ASEAN would “not be held hostage” to the ongoing conflict and if there was still no progress, the bloc would “act decisively.”

A senior US state department official told reporters that Washington is looking for ways to ramp up sanctions on the Myanmar military to make it difficult to acquire arms or generate revenue, after expressing concern about Russia’s supply of military equipment to the junta.

State Department Counselor Derek Chollet’s comments follow the announcement by the junta, extending its emergency rule for another six months. Chollet reiterated the Biden administration’s stance that “any regime-led elections have no chance of being free or fair.”