ASEAN tells Myanmar’s military rulers that peace should be the priority, not elections | ASEAN news

Myanmar has been in turmoil since early 2021, when its military overthrew the elected civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Southeast Asian countries have told Myanmar’s military government that its plan to hold elections amid an escalating civil war should not be their priority, urging it to immediately start dialogue and end hostilities.

Foreign ministers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) called on Sunday warring parties in the member state of Myanmar to end the fighting and told its representative to allow unimpeded humanitarian access, the foreign minister of host Malaysia said.

“Malaysia wants to know what Myanmar has in mind,” Mohamad Hasan told a news conference after a ministerial meeting on Langkawi Island.

Hasan said Myanmar – represented by a low-level official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after its military leaders were barred from official ASEAN meetings – briefed the crowd on plans for general elections this year. But the bloc wants the Myanmar government to ensure peace before holding any elections, he said.

“We said that the elections must be inclusive. Elections cannot be isolated, they must involve all stakeholders,” he said. “We told them that elections are not our priority. Our priority is to stop the violence.”

Myanmar has been in turmoil since early 2021 when its military overthrew the elected civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, sparking pro-democracy protests that escalated into a widening armed insurgency that has engulfed entire parts of the country.

Despite defeats on multiple fronts, an economy in shambles and dozens of banned political parties, the military government plans to hold elections this year, widely derided by critics as a sham to keep the general in power by proxy.

Malaysia, which this year chairs the 10-member bloc, announced the appointment of former diplomat Othman Hashim as special envoy for the crisis in Myanmar, where, according to the United Nations, humanitarian needs are at an “alarming level”, with almost 20 million people – more than third of the population – needs help.

Mohamad said Hashim would visit Myanmar “soon” to convince all parties in Myanmar to implement ASEAN’s five-point peace plan, which has made no progress since it was unveiled months after the coup.

Regional tensions on the agenda

Hasan said the meeting also discussed the likely implications of incoming US President Donald Trump’s second term for the region amid its rivalry with China.

He said the ministers expressed concern that competition between the two superpowers could increase regional tensions. He said ASEAN ministers stressed the urgency of strengthening regional unity and making economic integration a top priority amid global uncertainties.

Tensions in South China Seaone of the world’s vital shipping lanes with around $3 trillion in annual shipping trade, were also high on the agenda following violent clashes in the waters last year.

Vietnam and Malaysia have also protested the behavior of Chinese ships in their exclusive economic zones, which Beijing says operate legally in its waters.

China claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea. But ASEAN members Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia and Brunei, along with Taiwan, also have overlapping claims.

China and ASEAN have pledged to draft a code of conduct for the South China Sea, but talks have moved at a snail’s pace.

Mohamad said the ministers welcomed the progress made so far but “stressed the need to continue the momentum to accelerate the code of conduct”.

The foreign minister of the Philippines, a key ally of the United States, told the Reuters news agency on Saturday that it was time to start negotiating tricky “milestones” for the code, including its scope, whether it could be legally binding and its effect on third-party states.

Hasan said the ministers called for accelerated negotiations between ASEAN and China on a code of conduct on the waterway. “We emphasized that the South China Sea must remain calm and stable,” he said.