(Petaling Jaya, Friday) : All political parties in Malaysia should be part of a bi-partisan effort to support the proposal by the AIPMC to preserve ASEAN’s credibility and integrity by expelling Myanmar from ASEAN for continuing to use brutal and barbaric force to break up peaceful protests. The whole world is watching with great horror that the Myanmar regime is even killing gentle Buddhist monks who do not aspire to any leadership positions except to promote peace, freedom and justice.

The world, including ASEAN, can not just sit idly by and allow the unrest in Myanmar to quickly escalate into a repeat of the 1988 humanitarian crisis where more than 3,000 protestors were killed by the military junta. The Myanmar regime has lost any moral authority or political legitimacy by rejecting the will of the people and continuing to kill and murder to maintain their grip of power.

The danger for ASEAN, by continuing to engage with Myanmar regime as a friend and a civilized neighbour, risks losing the same moral authority. No one wants to mix around or be friends with a murderer and ASEAN by doing so is seen as condoning such repugnant behaviour. Realising "that the developments in Myanmar had a serious impact on the reputation and credibility of ASEAN'', ASEAN’s statement expressing revulsion at the violent repression, including automatic weapons, against demonstrations is an important first step. Further ASEAN called for the release of all political prisoners, including democratically elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi.

Even Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi have given up on the sincerity of Myanmar’s leaders in moving towards democracy, free and fair elections when he talked about the failure of Malaysia’s and ASEAN’s policy of constructive engagement with Myanmar. For this reason AIPMC President and UMNO MP for Kota Baru Datuk Zaid Ibrahim is correct in seeking Myanmar’s expulsion from ASEAN as necessary because it was not enough for Asean to merely issue statements when its credibility and integrity were at stake.

The Myanmar regime has demonstrated that it does not understand the language of reason, justice, democracy, freedom, peace and compassion. It only understands the language which is backed up by punitive action. Expelling Myanmar from the comity of nations is the only language that Myanmar’s murderous regime understands that its barbaric behaviour is unacceptable in any civilized community and has punitive effects.

DAP is the first political party in Malaysia to fully endorse the proposal by Zaid Ibrahim and hopes other political parties across the political spectrum in Malaysia can come together to prevent this human tragedy that is rapidly unfolding in Myanmar. Let all Malaysians speak as one voice in condemning this cancer of the international community.