VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Feb. 24 - The Indonesian Foreign Ministry has refuted a Reuters report saying Jakarta has agreed to Myanmar junta’s action plan for holding fresh elections, affirming that is not the Indonesian government’s political stance.

"I deny there is a plan of action. It is absolutely not Indonesia's position," Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah told journalists in Jakarta on Tuesday.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi has been striving to consult with her counterparts from other ASEAN member states to gather their views on Myanmar's political crisis, he said.

Marsudi's meetings with her counterparts have followed President Joko Widodo's recent meeting with Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin in Jakarta early this month, he added.

Foreign Minister Marsudi has visited Brunei Darussalam and Singapore over the past week, Faizasyah informed.

She is scheduled to make a trip to Thailand in the near future to consult with her counterpart about how ASEAN can play a role in seeking solutions to Myanmar's political crisis, he said.

"What we want to underline is how we can find a peaceful solution in Myanmar… an inclusive democratic political process that involves all parties," he stated.

The news report from Reuters, an international news agency, on Monday had prompted loyalists of ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi to stage a peaceful rally in front of the Indonesian Embassy in Yangon on Tuesday.

Over the past few weeks, Myanmar has been hit by waves of protests against the military coup of February 1, 2021.

The protesters are demanding an immediate release of elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, and recognition of her National League for Democracy (NLD) party’s victory in the second parliamentary elections, held on October 29, 2020.

According to a BBC report on February 1, 2021, following the coup, Myanmar's military seized power while Aung San Suu Kyi and other democratically-elected leaders were detained.

Myanmar is one of the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). The nine other member countries are Indonesia, Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. (Antaranews)