[AP]
This week s military coup in Myanmar has prompted calls for Jakarta to again take on the mantle of regional role model to help its neighbor back on the path to democracy.
Myanmar once looked to Indonesia – which navigated its own transition from dictatorship to democracy – for guidance in democratizing after decades of military rule, but those interactions waned after a change of government in Jakarta, analysts said.
The man who played a significant role in Myanmar’s democratic transition was Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, or “SBY,” Indonesia’s first directly elected president, and himself a former general.
Yudhoyono helped mediate conflicts between the Myanmar government and ethnic minorities, provided input on drafting democratic laws and invited officials to learn about democratic institutions, said the executive director of the Bali Institute for Peace and Democracy (IPD), I Ketut Putra Erawan.