Asean struggles between consensus and principles

High stakes: Flowers for Myanmar’s anti-coup protesters left outside the Asean building in Jakarta. The world will be watching with strong anticipation about what Asean has to offer to end the Myanmar crisis. — Reuters

ASEAN has been widely criticised, perhaps unfairly, for its failure to come up with any significant initiatives to stop the violence in Myanmar, one of its members, which erupted when the military grabbed power from civilian hands in February.

The violent crackdown against protesters by the military, now almost a daily occurrence, is making a complete mockery of all the humanitarian values contained in the Asean Charter that members have pledged to adhere.