ASEAN does not recognise Myanmar’s elections ‘as of now’: Philippine FM 

The 11-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) does not recognise the recently held elections in military-ruled Myanmar, which a military-backed party claimed to have won earlier this week.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro said on Thursday that ASEAN “has not endorsed the three phases of the elections that were held” in Myanmar, which concluded last weekend.

Lazaro was speaking after hosting ASEAN’s first major ministerial meetings this year in the central Philippines city of Cebu, where the Myanmar crisis was high on the agenda.

Asked in a news conference if the bloc did not recognise the elections, Lazaro said “yes, as of now”. Lazaro did not elaborate on how the regional bloc’s stance towards the election and its outcome could change.

Local online news organisation Rappler reports that Lazaro said that ASEAN had not yet “reached a consensus on the elections in Myanmar”.

“Lazaro also points out that while the three rounds of voting have concluded, the entire process has yet to be over,” Rappler said.

ASEAN’s nonrecognition of the elections will be a major blow to normalisation efforts by Myanmar’s military rulers, who seized power in 2021 and hoped to gain international recognition and a degree of legitimacy by holding the election.

On Monday, the military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) claimed victory in the vote. A senior USDP official was quoted by the AFP news agency as saying, “We won a majority already”, based on preliminary results.

“We are in the position to form a new government,” the official said.

“As we won in the election, we will move forward.”

Official results had been expected this week, while the military previously announced that parliament would be convened in March, and the new government would take up its duties in April.

Critics say the elections, which excluded major opposition parties and were slated by rights groups and activists, were neither free nor fair, and amounted to an attempt to legitimise military rule.

The ASEAN regional bloc, whose 11 members include Myanmar, has refused to recognise the military-ruled government’s coup in 2021 that removed the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and has since plunged the country into a grinding civil war.

“Meaningful political progress in Myanmar requires a cessation of hostilities, inclusive dialogue and participation by all stakeholders,” Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said, according to The Associated Press news agency.

“These preconditions are necessary for a government with legitimacy and a measure of popular support to emerge,” the minister said.

The Philippines currently holds ASEAN’s annual rotating chair of the bloc, taking what would have been Myanmar’s turn after the country was suspended from chairing the meeting owing to the military’s seizure of power.