An anti-coup protester displays defaced images of Commander in chief, Senior Gen Min Aung Hlaing in Mandalay, Myanmar. - AP
JAKARTA (Bloomberg): Indonesia, this year’s chair of the Association of South-East Asian Nations, may appoint a general-turned-minister as special envoy to engage with Myanmar’s junta that has extended emergency rule, according to people familiar with the matter.
Coordinating Minister of Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Panjaitan, 75, is the top pick for Indonesian President Joko Widodo given his transition from a four-star army general to government minister and businessman, said the people who declined to be identified as the matter isn’t public.
The president is looking to replicate his country’s success in hosting the Group of 20 summit where US and Chinese held a bilateral meeting amid heightened tensions and drove consensus among leaders that Russia’s war in Ukraine cannot be accepted.
Jokowi, as the president is known, may look at other candidates, the people said. Known as "Mr Fix-it,” Panjaitan has been entrusted with various responsibilities, from leading a successful vaccine drive in Indonesia to overseeing a highspeed rail project and courting investments from Chinese mining companies to Tesla.
Panjaitan told Bloomberg News he was unaware of discussions. The president’s office didn’t immediately respond to requests for comments.
Soft Diplomacy
If he’s selected, Panjaitan will be part of Asean’s special envoy office that Indonesia established to deal with Myanmar’s political crisis, the people said. The office is led by Indonesia’s Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.
Indonesia has taken a tougher stance than other countries in the bloc and is more vocal in its frustrations with the lack of progress made by the Myanmar regime in ending widespread conflict in the country since the February 2021 coup. Jokowi had proposed to Asean leaders that junta representatives should be barred from functions and events beyond the big-ticket summits.
However, the regime has become increasingly isolated and is relying on brutal tactics to subdue armed ethnic armies and supporters of the deposed civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi while bearing the brunt of sanctions. Last week, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing extended emergency rule to ensure the situation in the country normalizes, potentially delaying elections that are supposed to be held by August.
As Asean chair, Indonesia is now trying to find ways to bring the junta back to the negotiating table just as US and its allies level more sanctions. Panjaitan will be tasked with using soft diplomacy to persuade Myanmar’s military leaders to step back from governing and return the country to democracy, the people said.
Indonesia returned to democracy after the 1998 ouster of former general Suharto, who seized power from the country’s first president in 1966. Suharto ruled with an iron fist for three decades and oversaw rapid economic growth - a legacy that saw former military leaders like Panjaitan take on positions in successive governments, and have business dealings. One of them, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, became president.
Panjaitan himself has spoken about how the junta should take lessons from Indonesia. Last month, he told the World Economic Forum that Myanmar’s generals should step back and let "qualified” leaders govern the country as the junta struggles to contain the economic fallout from sanctions and conflict.
