Asean not likely to send observers for Myanmar polls, says Mohamad

KUALA LUMPUR: Foreign minister Mohamad Hasan said it is unlikely that Asean would agree to sending observers for Myanmar’s elections, set to be held starting Dec 28.

Responding to a Myanmar news portal’s report claiming that Malaysia has agreed to send observers for the polls, Mohamad said the issue would be deliberated by Asean foreign ministers.

“The matter will be discussed and decided at the Asean foreign ministers’ meeting, but I don’t expect Asean to agree (to it),” he told reporters today after inspecting the preparation for the coming Asean Summit.

Last Friday, state-run Global New Light of Myanmar said Mohamad “vowed to send electoral observation teams to Myanmar” after a meeting in Naypyidaw with junta leader Min Aung Hlaing.

The report led to calls by Subang MP Wong Chen of PKR and former foreign minister Saifuddin Abdullah for Wisma Putra to clarify if it endorses the “sham elections”.

Former DAP MP Charles Santiago also said agreeing to send electoral observers would amount to an endorsement of the military junta that has been responsible for committing many atrocities on its own people.