Asean’s failure to meet Myanmar junta over election shows its ‘limited leverage’

Myanmar and Asean leaders are locked in a “diplomatic impasse” with the military junta determined to prevent the bloc from interfering with its plans for a general election later this year, according to observers.

Four foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations last week postponed their planned trip to Myanmar to discuss the election, which is set to begin in December, and other matters.

The diplomats from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines were originally scheduled to fly to Myanmar last Friday to hold talks with the junta.

However, Malaysia’s Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan, the head of the delegation, on Thursday said the trip had been postponed to early October but did not share further details, Nikkei Asia reported. He did not specify a reason for the postponement.

Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is not keen to listen to Asean regarding the election after he has gained support for the polls from China and India, according to a report by The Irrawaddy news website, citing unnamed sources. Min Aung Hlaing likely decided that it was not necessary to appease the Asean delegation, the report said.

Mohamad initially confirmed the trip in August, saying he would lead an Asean delegation to assess the situation in Myanmar after the junta-led government ended a state of emergency. He said Myanmar must comply with the commitments it made with Asean through a peace plan adopted by the bloc in 2021 to deal with the country’s humanitarian and political crisis.