Othman Hashim’s appointment as the Asean chair’s special envoy to Myanmar was endorsed by the bloc at the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Retreat in Langkawi today. (Suhakam Facebook pic)
LANGKAWI: Asean has endorsed former Malaysian diplomat Othman Hashim as the Asean chair’s special envoy to Myanmar.
He is the fifth special envoy on Myanmar to be appointed by Asean since the February 2021 military coup that sparked a political and humanitarian crisis in that country.
Foreign minister Mohamad Hasan announced Othman’s appointment at a press conference after chairing the Asean Foreign Ministers’ Retreat here today.
“Asean ministers also expressed support for Tan Sri Othman Hashim as the special envoy for Myanmar and in fulfilling his mandate,” he said.
Othman previously served as the secretary-general of the foreign ministry and the chairman of Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam).
He served in the foreign ministry for more than three decades, holding various posts in Wisma Putra as well as in diplomatic missions overseas.
He was formerly Malaysia’s ambassador to the United States and Czech Republic. He also served as permanent representative to the United Nations (UN) in Geneva.
Othman was accredited to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and headed the Malaysian delegations to the regular sessions of the UNHRC between 2009 and 2012.
In September 2013, Othman returned to Putrajaya and was appointed as the ministry’s secretary-general, the highest executive post in the ministry.
He led the ministry during Malaysia’s chairmanship of Asean in 2015 and non-permanent membership of the United Nations Security Council from 2015 to 2016, when he retired from the civil service.
The situation in Myanmar remains dire after the military coup in 2021 ousted the democratically-elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy.
The coup sparked widespread protests and civil unrest across the country, leading to violent crackdowns by the military junta which have displaced hundreds of thousands.
