Asean not sending monitors to Myanmar polls: Sources
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People passing an election campaign billboard of Mr Khin Yi, chairman of the army-backed ruling Union Solidarity and Development Party, in Yangon on Oct 27.
PHOTO: AFP
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KUALA LUMPUR – South-east Asia’s Asean bloc will not send observers to Myanmar’s elections in December
Junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has billed the Dec 28 polls as a step towards reconciliation in the civil war unleashed by his 2021 coup.
Asean chair, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, on Oct 27 repeated calls for an “immediate ceasefire”.
Leaders of the 11-nation Asean, meeting in Malaysia
“The cessation of violence and inclusive political dialogue must precede elections,” it added, noting the junta’s invitation for Asean states to send observers.
“What it means is that there are no Asean observers, but Asean countries are free to send observers on a bilateral basis,” one diplomat told AFP, requesting anonymity.
A second diplomat confirmed there was no consensus among members to deploy a mission under Asean’s banner.
Not sending Asean observers “will certainly be a blow to Myanmar’s legitimacy aspirations”, said Mr Mustafa Izzuddin, an international affairs analyst with consultancy Solaris Strategies Singapore.
“There will be no credible evidence to suggest that free and fair elections were held.”
Human Rights Watch has condemned the vote as a “sham”, while Amnesty International accused the junta of “repressive tactics” and “arresting anyone critical of the polls”.
Voting will not take place across large swathes of the country controlled by pro-democracy guerillas and ethnic minority armies fighting the military regime.
European Union commissioner Kajsa Ollongren has also ruled out sending observers, calling the planned elections neither free nor fair.
“Based on these criteria, we will not send observers to something that we don’t recognise as an election,” she told AFP.
Myanmar remains a member of Asean but its junta leaders have been barred from the bloc’s meetings since the coup.
Other members are Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, with newest member Timor-Leste joining on Oct 26
UN special rapporteur Tom Andrews had earlier urged Asean not to “legitimise the junta’s charade” by sending monitors, warning that to recognise the “fraudulent election would be to move Myanmar backward and defend the indefensible”. AFP
