ASEAN agrees Myanmar election is not a priority, Malaysia says

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has agreed that an election in Myanmar was not a priority and is urging the military regime, which seized power during a coup on Feb. 1, 2021, to adhere to its peace commitments instead, Malaysia’s foreign minister said on Friday.

Myanmar, an ASEAN member, is in the grips of an escalating crisis and critics have derided the regime-planned election this year as an attempt to prolong military rule through proxies in the absence of a viable political opposition.

Minister Mohamad Hasan said members of ASEAN, which Malaysia is chairing, want Myanmar to honour its Five Point Consensus, a peace plan Min Aung Hlaing agreed to in April 2021, following his military coup against Aung San Suu Kyi’s civilian-led National League for Democracy (NLD) government.