"Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi is spearheading an effort to get the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to get more involved in resolving the political situation in Myanmar. Retno flew to Brunei yesterday and is scheduled to visit Singapore today for talks aimed at building a consensus within ASEAN on unfolding political crisis inside the country. Her visit comes just over two weeks after the Myanmar military, or Tatmadaw, seized power, arresting State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi and abrogating her party’s landslide victory at national elections in November. The coup has been followed by an escalating nationwide civil disobedience campaign that has brought the country’s government to a standstill. “Many countries, including Indonesia, have raised concerns,” Retno said in a statement from Brunei. “Raising concerns is one thing, but the question is: What can Indonesia and ASEAN do to help Myanmar get out of this delicate situation?” Her tour came after Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Malaysian Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin agreed to instruct their foreign ministers to talk to Brunei, this year’s chair of ASEAN, about setting up a special meeting to address the political crisis in Myanmar.The coup looms as an important test for ASEAN, which claims to occupy a position of diplomatic centrality in Asian diplomacy, but has often been sluggish in its response to regional crises. This is because of ASEAN’s decision-making process, which is based on the principles of consensus – meaning that any ASEAN member state can veto a course of action – and an allergy to any hint of “intervention” in member states’ internal affairs..."