Malaysia says ASEAN will not certify Myanmar elections; Pro-democracy leader not interested in ‘populism’

Malaysia says ASEAN will not certify Myanmar elections

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will not send observers to attend the final phase of voting in Burma’s ongoing 2025-26 military-run elections, nor will it endorse the results of polls, Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said in response to a question from another lawmaker about ASEAN’s position on the elections in Burma on Tuesday.

Burma has been ravaged by conflict since the military staged a coup on Feb. 1, 2021. It ousted the National League for Democracy (NLD) party from government, which won back-to-back landslide election victories against the military-proxy Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) in 2020 and 2015. Both State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Win Myint have been held in prison ever since.

Burma’s 2025-26 elections, which began on Dec. 28, have been criticised by the U.N., several Western countries, and international human rights groups as an exercise to legitimize military rule through its proxy political party the USDP. It won the majority of seats in the first two rounds of voting in 202 of Burma’s 330 townships on Dec. 28 and Jan. 11. A third and final round of voting will be held on Jan. 25.