Vacant seat of a nation at ASEAN couldn’t be claimed a summit: permanent secretary of foreign ministry
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Khit / Myo Gyi (NP News) - Aug 9
The permanent secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Ministry Aye Chan told that a vacant seat of a nation at the Asean summit even couldn’t be claimed as a senior-level meeting.
The permanent secretary Aye Chan spoke this message to the state-owned newspapers regarding the ASEAN affair.
The ASEAN Charter is a basic constitution that member countries must follow. Held twice a year, the ASEAN Summit has to be convened and hosted by the country that took the chairmanship.
Article 7 prescribes ‘appoint the Secretary-General of ASEAN, with the rank and status of Minister, who will serve with the confidence and at a pleasure of the Head of State or Government upon the recommendation of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers Meeting.”
Permanent Secretary Aye Chan said, “It cannot be claimed an ASEAN Summit if lack of any of the Head or senior officers of any member country or vacant seat of a nation at the meeting.”
He continued that it is a sorrow to observe the ASEAN community as inferior at its binding exerting external interference and pressure on the member countries, saying “This is an irrational action done by the ASEAN community of excluding a member country at a high-rank summit; having an outrageous impact on the effectiveness and regular mechanisms within the community.”
Myanmar was excluded from attending the ASEAN summits since the military takeover on February 1, 2021.