ASEAN has refused to recognise Myanmar’s post-coup elections claimed by a military-backed party.
The Philippines, chairing ASEAN this year, said the bloc has not endorsed any phase of the polls.
The decision underscores continued regional opposition to military rule amid Myanmar’s civil war.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has said it does not recognise Myanmar’s recently held elections, the first since the military seized power in 2021, dealing a setback to the junta’s attempts to gain international legitimacy, according to AP.
Asked at a news conference whether the regional bloc recognised the elections, Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro said, “yes, as of now”, adding that ASEAN “has not endorsed the three phases of the elections that were held.” She was speaking after hosting ASEAN’s first major ministerial meetings of the year in the central Philippine city of Cebu, where the Myanmar crisis featured prominently, Associated Press reported.
ASEAN’s refusal to recognise the polls comes despite claims by Myanmar’s military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP) that it won the elections held earlier this week. The outcome was widely anticipated, as major opposition parties were excluded from the process and political dissent remained tightly restricted.
The regional bloc, which counts Myanmar among its 11 members, has declined to recognise the military-ruled government since the army overthrew the elected administration of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021. That power grab has plunged the impoverished Southeast Asian nation into a prolonged and deadly civil war, AP reported.
Lazaro did not indicate whether ASEAN’s position on the elections could change in the future. She said the meetings in Cebu were convened at a time when Myanmar’s internal conflict continued to pose a serious challenge to regional stability.
Under Myanmar’s political system, a quarter of parliamentary seats are reserved for the military, a provision that effectively ensures control by the armed forces and parties aligned with it. Critics have described the elections as neither free nor fair, arguing that they were intended to legitimise military rule following the coup.
“Meaningful political progress in Myanmar requires a cessation of hostilities, inclusive dialogue and participation by all stakeholders,” Singapore Foreign Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said. “These preconditions are necessary for a government with legitimacy and a measure of popular support to emerge.”
The Philippines currently holds ASEAN’s rotating chair, a role Myanmar was due to assume before it was barred from doing so following the military takeover. Founded in 1967 during the Cold War, ASEAN brings together a diverse group of countries, ranging from democracies such as the Philippines, a treaty ally of the United States, to more authoritarian states like Laos and Cambodia, which maintain close ties with China.
The bloc has adopted the theme “Navigating our future, Together” for the year, though efforts to project unity suffered a setback last year when deadly fighting broke out between Thailand and Cambodia over a longstanding border dispute. The two countries later reached a U.S.-backed ceasefire.
Beyond Myanmar, the ministers agreed to hold monthly meetings with China to try to conclude negotiations this year on a proposed “code of conduct” aimed at managing disputes in the South China Sea, Lazaro said. ASEAN members set themselves a three-year deadline to finalise the non-aggression framework amid growing pressure to make progress.
China claims most of the strategically vital waterway, a major global trade route, overlapping with claims by four ASEAN members — the Philippines, Malaysia, Vietnam and Brunei.
Opening the meetings, Lazaro urged the bloc to maintain restraint and adhere to international law, warning that acts of aggression in Asia and “unilateral actions” elsewhere risk undermining the rules-based global order.
Several ASEAN states have expressed concern over a secretive U.S. operation that led to the arrest of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on the orders of President Donald Trump. China’s increasingly assertive posture towards Taiwan and in the South China Sea has also troubled the region for years, according to Associated Press.
Navigating relations with both Washington and Beijing, key trading and security partners for many ASEAN countries, remains a diplomatic challenge for the grouping.
“Across our region, we continue to see tensions at sea, protracted internal conflicts and unresolved border and humanitarian concerns,” Lazaro said. “At the same time, developments beyond Southeast Asia, including unilateral actions that carry cross-regional implications, continue to affect regional stability and erode multilateral institutions and the rules-based international order.”
(With inputs from Associated Press)
