Asean rejects last Myanmar elections
CEBU CITY—The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) does not recognize the recently held elections in Myanmar, the first since the army seized power in 2021, the Philippine foreign secretary said on Thursday.
Asean’s nonrecognition of the elections in Myanmar, which a military-backed party claimed to have won, is a major blow to efforts by the country’s military rulers to gain international recognition.
The regional bloc, whose 11 members include Myanmar, has refused to recognize the military-ruled government since the army forcibly wrested power from Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government in 2021. The power grab has plunged the impoverished country into a deadly civil war.
Asked if the bloc did not recognize the elections in Myanmar, Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro said, “yes, as of now,” and added that Asean “has not endorsed the three phases of the elections that were held.”
Lazaro did not elaborate on how the regional bloc’s stance could possibly change. She was speaking after hosting the Asean’s first major ministerial meetings this year in the central city of Cebu. The Myanmar crisis was high on the agenda.
Myanmar’s military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party claimed on Monday that it had won the elections. The victory of the party led by a former general was widely expected after the vote excluded major opposition parties and dissent was tightly restricted.
Also, a quarter of parliamentary seats were automatically reserved for the military—effectively guaranteeing control by the armed forces and its favored parties.
Critics say the elections were neither free nor fair, but were an effort to legitimize military rule after its forcible seizure of power.
“Meaningful political progress in Myanmar requires a cessation of hostilities, inclusive dialogue and participation by all stakeholders,” Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said. “These preconditions are necessary for a government with legitimacy and a measure of popular support to emerge.”
Unwieldy members
The Philippines holds Asean’s rotating chair this year, taking what would have been Myanmar’s turn after the country was suspended from chairing the meeting after the military’s seizure of power.
Founded in 1967 in the Cold War era, Asean has an unwieldy membership of diverse countries that range from vibrant democracies like the Philippines, a longtime treaty ally of Washington, to authoritarian states like Laos and Cambodia, which are close to Beijing.
The regional bloc adopted the theme “Navigating our future, Together” this year, but that effort to project unity faced its latest setback last year when deadly fighting erupted between two members, Thailand and Cambodia, over a longtime border conflict.
Aside from the Myanmar crisis and the deadly fighting that embroiled Thailand and Cambodia before both forged a US-backed ceasefire last year, the ministers also agreed to hold monthly meetings with China in an effort to conclude negotiations this year on a so-called “code of conduct” to manage disputes over long-unresolved territorial rifts in the South China Sea, Lazaro said.
Under growing pressure to conclude the talks on the nonaggression accord, the ministers announced the self-imposed deadline three years ago.
China has expansive claims in the waterway, a key global trade route, that overlap with those of four Asean members, the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei.
