Erywan Yusof on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
Erywan Yusof () is the incumbent 2nd Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brunei and
ASEAN
ASEAN ( , ), officially the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, is a political and economic union of 10 member states in Southeast Asia, which promotes intergovernmental cooperation and facilitates economic, political, security, milita ...
's special envoy
Diplomatic rank is a system of professional and social rank used in the world of diplomacy and international relations. A diplomat's rank determines many ceremonial details, such as the order of precedence at official processions, table seating ...
to Myanmar.
Education
Yusof graduated fromUniversity College Swansea
, former_names=University College of Swansea, University of Wales Swansea
, motto= cy, Gweddw crefft heb ei dawn
, mottoeng="Technical skill is bereft without culture"
, established=1920 – University College of Swansea 1996 – University of Wa ...
(now Swansea University) in 1991 with a Master of Science
A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast t ...
degree in Genetics and its Applications.
Political career
He was appointed as the deputy minister of MofA in 2015, and subsequently appointed as deputy chairman of the Brunei Strategy Council in November 2015 and of the Brunei Economic Development Board in 2016. On 4 August 2021, ASEAN foreign ministers selected Yusof as ASEAN's special envoy to Myanmar, to help mediate the country's crisis following the2021 Myanmar coup d'état
A coup d'état in Myanmar began on the morning of 1 February 2021, when democratically elected members of the country's ruling party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), were deposed by the Tatmadaw—Myanmar's military—which then ves ...
. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres
Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular ma ...
welcomed Yusof’s appointment. 413 civil society organisations in Myanmar publicly criticized ASEAN's appointment of Yusof, for excluding the National Unity Government
A national unity government, government of national unity (GNU), or national union government is a broad coalition government consisting of all parties (or all major parties) in the legislature, usually formed during a time of war or other nat ...
(NUG), civil society, and pro-democracy forces such as the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM), as part of its decision-making process.
On 6 October, Yusof expressed concerns with the Burmese military's lack of progress in implementing ASEAN's five-point consensus, signaling ASEAN may not invite Myanmar's junta, the State Administration Council
The State Administration Council ( my, နိုင်ငံတော်စီမံအုပ်ချုပ်ရေးကောင်စီ; abbreviated SAC or နစက) is the military junta currently governing Myanmar, established by Comm ...
, to an ASEAN Summit later that month. On 14 October, Yusof abruptly cancelled a planned visit to Myanmar after the military junta denied him access to opposition stakeholders like Aung San Suu Kyi
Aung San Suu Kyi (; ; born 19 June 1945) is a Burmese politician, diplomat, author, and a 1991 Nobel Peace Prize laureate who served as State Counsellor of Myanmar (equivalent to a prime minister) and Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2 ...
, in contravention of the five-point consensus agreed to by parties. Min Aung Hlaing
Min Aung Hlaing ( my, မင်းအောင်လှိုင် abbreviated: MAL ; born 3 July 1956) also known as Alaungsithu is a Burmese politician and army general who has ruled Myanmar as the chairman of the State Administration Co ...
was ultimately barred from attending the summit. Hun Sen
Hun Sen (; km, ហ៊ុន សែន, ; born 5 August 1952) is a Cambodian politician and former military commander who has served as the prime minister of Cambodia since 1985. He is the longest-serving head of government of Cambodia, and ...
signaled he may replace Yusof with Cambodia's incumbent foreign minister Prak Sokhonn
Prak Sokhonn ( km, ប្រាក់ សុខុន; born 3 May 1954) is a Cambodian politician, diplomat and journalist, currently serving in the Cabinet of Cambodia as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cambodia since 2016, and Deputy Prime ...
, who has criticized the Burmese military regime, when Cambodia chairs ASEAN next year. Prak will succeed Yusof on 1 January 2022.
Awards and honours
Honours
* Order of Setia Negara Brunei
The Most Blessed Order of Setia Negara Brunei ( ms, Darjah Setia Negara Brunei Yang Amat Bahagia), also translated as The Most Blessed Order of Loyalty to the State of Brunei, is an order of Brunei. It was established on 29 November 1959 by Sultan ...
First Class (PSNB) – Dato Seri Setia
See also
*List of current foreign ministers
This is a list of current foreign ministers of the 193 United Nations member states as well as the Holy See ( Vatican City) and the State of Palestine.
Foreign ministers of sovereign countries with limited recognition, some alternative gover ...
* Cabinet of Brunei
The Council of Cabinet Ministers () is the body of high-ranking Brunei officials, consisting of the top leaders of the executive branch of Brunei government. Led by the Sultan himself, who has also been the Prime Minister of Brunei since 1984.
Th ...
References
{{Authority control Living people Alumni of Swansea University Foreign ministers of Brunei Year of birth missing (living people)