ASEAN will not certify Myanmar election or deploy observers, says Malaysia

ASEAN will not send observers or certify Myanmar election, Malaysia says.

The 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will neither send observers to Myanmar’s ongoing three-stage election nor endorse the poll, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan said on Tuesday.

Myanmar has been engulfed in conflict since the military staged a coup against the civilian government in 2021. The election, which began in December, has drawn criticism from the United Nations, Western countries, and rights groups, who describe it as an attempt to legitimize military rule through political proxies — a charge denied by the junta.

Voter turnout has been low. In the second stage held earlier this month, the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party won 88 percent of the contested lower house seats in the first phase.

Speaking in Malaysia’s parliament, Mohamad said ASEAN had rejected Myanmar’s request to deploy observers during last year’s annual leaders’ summit in Kuala Lumpur. “ASEAN will not send observers, and by virtue of that, we will not certify the poll,” he stated. Some member states, however, chose to observe individually.

Separately, Mohamad noted that ASEAN is in the final stages of concluding a long-proposed code of conduct with China this year over South China Sea activities. The code, originally pledged in 2002, has seen slow progress and is aimed at resolving disputes over overlapping territorial claims affecting fishing and energy exploration across several Southeast Asian nations.