Cheap eats: Anwar checking out a booth during the Kenduri Menu Rahmah event at Parliament House in Kuala Lumpur. — Bernama
THE conflict in Myanmar must be resolved collectively by Asean to avoid it becoming a regional flashpoint, says Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.
The Foreign Minister said no Asean nation should attempt to resolve the issue unilaterally, but instead adhere to the Five Point Consensus (5PC) on Myanmar.
“I agree that we must avoid the Myanmar issue becoming another flash point in our region.
“We must use all our wisdom to resolve the problem as there are outside powers that are vying to get involved at the opportune time,” Zambry said when responding to a supplementary question raised by Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad (PH-Kuala Selangor) in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.
Dzulkefly asked about the recent proposal by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, during his visit to Thailand, to carve Myanmar out of Asean as a more drastic measure to resolve the conflict.
Zambry said that the term “carve out” used by Anwar was not to be taken as meaning to directly remove the country from the grouping.
“What was meant is that Asean should not turn the issue into a problem that we cannot extract ourselves from,” he said.
He added that Asean needed to consider other factors such as strengthening economic cooperation and ties among member nations.
He also acknowledged that if the Myanmar issue was not resolved in an appropriate manner, it could lead to a race for dominance by outside powers.
“There are powers from the outside that want to get involved in Myanmar, which will spark a race for geopolitical power,” he said.
