Page 77 - The Ethics of ASEAN

Ethical leadership of ASEAN and in ASEAN

José Ramos-Horta: leadership of ASEAN
and in ASEAN can help a diverse region make
ethical decisions.

The keynote speaker of our dialogue is Dr José Ramos-Horta,
one of the founders of Timor-Leste, ASEAN’s newest state
and a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate. He served as President of
Timor-Leste from 2007 to 2012 and would again be elected in
2022. An outspoken advocate for freedom, peace, and human
rights, Dr Ramos-Horta gives an overview of leadership ethics
in Southeast Asia.
First of all, the main ethical challenge to ASEAN is the
Myanmar situation. Ramos-Horta explains the difficulty for
ASEAN leaders trying to come to an ethical decision about
a Member State based on differing relations with Myanmar
and different political views. Political ideologies, economic
investment and military relationships have affected each Figure 1: Dr José Ramos-
nation’s response to the crisis. For example, Indonesia, a Horta, current president
of Timor-Leste and Nobel
country that successfully transitioned to democracy in the Peace Laureate
Indonesian Reformation of 1998, is taking a clear stance
to resolve this Myanmar political and humanitarian crisis
immediately. Thailand, on the other hand, is not willing to
condemn the coup because of its elite military links to Myanmar
and benefits of sharing a long border and extensive trade and
investments with the country.
What has impressed Ramos-Horta is the united movement
of the people in taking to the street to demonstrate. This shows
the ironclad will of the people in Myanmar to resist the regime
and the power of the visionary leadership of Aung San Suu Kyi,
also a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who had democratically won
the mandate of the people in the 2015 landmark elections and
again captured an even greater majority in the November 2020
election that led to the coup.
A five-point consensus was announced by ASEAN
1
Leaders the month before this dialogue took place. It called
for Myanmar’s military regime to immediately cease all forms
of violence, allow humanitarian aid and special envoys to
meet all parties, and to participate in a mediation process.
Unfortunately, the Myanmar Tatmadaw ignored these
requirements and continued to brutally repress all opposition in
the country. The five-point plan was not followed by action from
the ASEAN Member States.
1 ASEAN Secretariat (April 2021). Chairman’s Statement on the ASEAN Leaders’
Meeting. Retrieved from https://apnews.com/article/only-on-ap-united-
nations-thailand-myanmar-indonesia-21128b761ef13e31465f0a537a1b0b18
on 1 May 2023

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