Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Tuesday that leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regional bloc will consider developments in Myanmar following the first phase of its election over the weekend.
The polls are being held in several phases amid an ongoing civil war that has ravaged parts of Myanmar and led to one of Asia’s worst humanitarian crises.
The election has been widely derided by the United Nations, Western governments and human rights groups as a sham and an attempt by the regime to entrench military rule through political proxies.
The regime in Naypyidaw has denied the charge, saying the election was not being conducted through coercion or force and has public support.
Malaysia, the 2025 chair of ASEAN, will monitor the situation in Myanmar, along with the leaders of the other 10 member states.
“Any assessment will proceed in a sequenced manner, guided by the need to reduce violence, avoid actions that could deepen divisions or confer premature legitimacy, and preserve the possibility of an inclusive and credible pathway forward,” Anwar said in a televised press conference.
Malaysia’s foreign minister has previously said that ASEAN wants the election to be fair and inclusive, and also urged the regime in Naypyidaw to adhere to a peace agreement it agreed with the bloc in 2021.
The Five-Point Consensus peace plan has been largely seen as a failure, with Myanmar’s regime refusing to meet with opponents it deemed to be terrorists.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military overthrew a civilian democratic government in a 2021 coup, triggering an armed rebellion that has captured large swathes of territory across the country.
REUTERS
