ASEAN refuses to recognize Myanmar's military-run elections 

MANILA, Philippines — ASEAN will not endorse Myanmar's military-controlled elections, Foreign Affairs Secretary Theresa Lazaro said Thursday, January 29 — the bloc's toughest stance yet against the junta's bid for legitimacy on the international stage.

"There is no consensus on endorsing these elections," Lazaro told reporters after a day of talks at ASEAN's first major ministerial meetings this year in Cebu. 

"In fact, there are many other issues — there are really no results yet, they just finished the three phases. We don't know the results and the pronouncements after the results come in," she added.

The elections — denounced by the United Nations and rights groups as a sham — concluded last weekend after three rounds of voting designed to cement military rule nearly five years after the Myanmar junta seized power in a 2021 coup. 

The military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party swept the polls in a process that excluded most opposition parties and voters from townships where fighting is most intense. They are expected to win by a landslide.  

"As far as ASEAN's collective view is concerned, there is no endorsement at this point in time," said Lazaro, who chairs the regional bloc this year.

Human Rights Myanmar, a civil society organization that tracks rights violations in the country, found that the polls failed all five pillars of international election standards, including freedom from coercion.

The report documented authorities threatening to withhold humanitarian aid from displaced persons and warning young people who skipped voting that they would face military conscription.  

The elections unfolded as Myanmar's civil war grinds on. Ethnic armed groups and pro-democracy fighters battle the military across vast stretches of territory. More than 3.5 million people have fled their homes since the 2021 coup, while the junta has jailed tens of thousands and bombed schools, hospitals and civilian areas.  

ASEAN has downgraded Myanmar's representation at high-level meetings and postponed its turn to chair the bloc, but its Five-Point Consensus — a 2021 plan calling for an immediate end to violence and inclusive dialogue — has produced no results. The junta has ignored the framework while intensifying attacks on civilians.

Human Rights Myanmar urged the international community to reject the election results, calling for governments to declare the resulting administration unconstitutional and bar elected representatives from participating in summits abroad.