ASEAN foreign ministers have urged Myanmar's military junta to prioritize a ceasefire in its ongoing civil war over holding fresh elections. The ministers met in Malaysia on Sunday and emphasized the need for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, which has displaced millions and sparked widespread international condemnation.
LANGKAWI, Malaysia — Southeast Asian foreign ministers urged Myanmar 's military government to prioritize a ceasefire in its civil war over holding fresh elections during a meeting in Malaysia on Sunday. Myanmar 's armed forces seized power in February 2021 on unsubstantiated claims of widespread electoral fraud in the 2020 polls, which were won decisively by Aung San Suu Kyi 's National League for Democracy.
The junta subsequently launched a brutal crackdown on dissent, and as fighting has ravaged parts of the country, it has repeatedly delayed plans for elections that critics deem neither free nor fair. \'One thing that we know, they want to have an election. But we told them that election is not a priority at the moment,' Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said in a press briefing following the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) meeting of top diplomats on the western Malaysian island of Langkawi. \'The priority now is ceasefire and everybody to stand down. It's very simple,' Mohamad added. Malaysia holds the rotating chairmanship of the 10-member Asean this year, which has long faced criticism for its perceived lack of effectiveness. Myanmar was represented on Sunday by Aung Kyaw Moe, a senior civil servant in its Foreign Ministry, following the regional bloc's decision to exclude junta members from its meetings. Mohamad stated that Aung Kyaw Moe informed the ministers about the junta's intentions to hold an election without specifying any dates. The Asean has spearheaded diplomatic efforts to end the conflict but has struggled to implement a five-point peace plan agreed upon by all bloc leaders, including Myanmar's junta, in April 2021. The junta has repeatedly postponed the timeline for elections as it grapples with suppressing widespread opposition to its rule from allied ethnic minority armed groups and pro-democracy 'People's Defense Forces.' The United States has asserted that any elections conducted under the junta's control would be a 'sham,' while analysts contend that such polls would be targeted by the military's opponents and risk further bloodshed. Over 3.3 million people in Myanmar have been displaced by the conflict, according to the United Nations. Asean Secretary General Kao Kim Hourn disclosed that some foreign ministers present on Sunday also 'called for the release of Madam Aung San Suu Kyi,' the prominent pro-democracy figure who has been detained since the 2021 coup
MYANMAR Asean CIVIL WAR CEASEFIRE ELECTIONS MILITARY JUNT A Aung San Suu Kyi
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