- Singapore's Prime Minister on Tuesday called for Myanmar's military to release elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi to allow the country to move forward and said sanctions would hurt the people rather than the military.
- In a transcript of an interview with the BBC, Lee Hsien Loong said the military will have learned from the past that it was in the country's interests for it to work out an arrangement with an elected civilian government, as a military route would lead nowhere.
Singapore's Prime Minister on Tuesday called for Myanmar's military to release elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi to allow the country to move forward and said sanctions would hurt the people rather than the military.
In a transcript of an interview with the BBC, Lee Hsien Loong said the military will have learned from the past that it was in the country's interests for it to work out an arrangement with an elected civilian government, as a military route would lead nowhere.
Malaysia on Tuesday proposed that the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) form an expert group on elections to provide "democratic support" to Myanmar in dealing with the military's claims of discrepancies in a November election.
Malaysia's Foreign Minister Hishammuddin Hussein during a special meeting between ASEAN members on Myanmar also called for the immediate release of Aung San Suu Kyi and other detained government leaders, and for ASEAN to consider the "recurring situation" in Myanmar a setback towards regional peace, stability and prosperity should the situation worsen.
Meanwhile, Indonesia's foreign minister Retno Marsudi on Tuesday urged Myanmar to "open its doors" to the ASEAN bloc to resolve escalating tensions after a military coup.
After a meeting with other ASEAN foreign ministers, Retno also called for the release of political detainees and for democracy to be restored in Myanmar, while pledging that ASEAN countries would not break their non-interference pledge.
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