Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan will visit Myanmar on Thursday for talks with the regime in Naypyidaw, which seized power during a military coup on Feb. 1, 2021, to discuss its upcoming election.
Hasan will make a one-day visit to the capital Naypyidaw to push for progress on a stalled peace process in Malaysia’s capacity as chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). He will meet regime leader Min Aung Hlaing, as well as the regime’s prime minister and its foreign minister, Malaysia’s government stated.
Myanmar’s regime have been barred from high-level ASEAN meetings since 2022 for failing to honour commitments Min Aung Hlaing made when he agreed to the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus, the regional bloc’s peace plan in April 2021 – two months after he ousted the National League for Democracy (NLD) government and jailed State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, who have been held incommunicado by the regime over the past five years.
Myanmar has been locked in a civil war between regime and resistance forces. Naypyidaw has scheduled general elections to begin on Dec. 28, a ballot widely seen by the regime’s critics as a sham to allow the generals to remain in power via its proxy political party, the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP).
Only five other political parties are contesting the elections on a national level and pro-democracy parties have either been barred from running, or have refused to take part. Some, like the NLD, are unable to participate because the regime has officially dissolved the party and arrested, jailed or killed it members.
Hasan said in July that ASEAN did not regard the election as a priority, calling on Myanmar to adhere to its peace commitments instead.
Malaysia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Hasan will call on Naypyidaw to implement the ASEAN peace plan, “specifically on cessation of hostilities, allowing unhindered humanitarian access and holding inclusive dialogue with Myanmar stakeholders.”
Myanmar has been roiled by violence since the 2021 coup that unseated the elected NLD government with its ruling generals facing fierce resistance from armed anti-regime groups.
In a separate post to social media on Thursday, Malaysia’s Hasan said that recent ceasefire violations were undermining the ASEAN peace plan efforts, without specifying details.
On Wednesday, at least 20 people were killed in an attack by the regime during a gathering in the Sagaing Region, according to eyewitnesses, rights groups and others.
REUTERS
