ASEAN Declines to Send Election Observers to Myanmar’s Military-Led Polls

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) will not dispatch election monitors to Myanmar’s December polls, according to multiple diplomatic sources — a major setback for the ruling junta’s effort to secure international legitimacy.

Myanmar’s military leader Min Aung Hlaing has described the elections, set to begin on December 28, as a step toward national reconciliation following the 2021 coup that plunged the country into civil war.

During a regional summit in Malaysia, ASEAN chair and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim reiterated calls for an “immediate ceasefire,” while leaders of the 11-nation bloc expressed “deep concern” over the continuing conflict and warned of “a lack of substantive progress” toward peace.

“The cessation of violence and inclusive political dialogue must precede elections,” the bloc said in a joint statement issued late Sunday, noting that the junta had invited ASEAN members to send observers.

“What this means is that there will be no ASEAN observer mission. However, individual member states may choose to send observers on a bilateral basis,” one Southeast Asian diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
A second diplomat confirmed that there was no consensus among ASEAN members to send observers under the organization’s banner.

Analysts say ASEAN’s decision deals a serious blow to the junta’s efforts to gain international recognition.

“Not sending ASEAN observers will certainly undermine Myanmar’s legitimacy ambitions,” said Mustafa Izzuddin, an international affairs analyst at Solaris Strategies Singapore.
“There will be no credible evidence suggesting that free and fair elections took place.”

Rights groups have condemned the upcoming polls as “a sham.”

Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have accused the military regime of repression, intimidation, and the arrest of critics to silence dissent ahead of the vote.

Large parts of Myanmar remain outside junta control, with pro-democracy militias and ethnic armed groups continuing their fight against military rule. Voting is expected to be canceled in those regions.

The European Union has also ruled out sending observers. EU Commissioner Kajsa Ollongren said the bloc would not recognize the process as democratic.

“Based on these criteria, we will not send observers to something we do not consider a genuine election,” she told AFP.

Although Myanmar remains an ASEAN member, its military leaders have been barred from attending ASEAN summits since the 2021 coup.

Current ASEAN members include Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam, with East Timor formally joining as the bloc’s newest member on Sunday.

UN Special Rapporteur Tom Andrews earlier urged ASEAN not to “legitimize the junta’s charade” by sending observers, warning that doing so would only “move Myanmar backward and defend the indefensible.”

Source: AFP