00:00Foreign Minister Datuk Srimu Hamad Hassan says ASEAN will not send observers to Myanmar's
00:06military-run election and will not endorse the poll.
00:09The decision comes as the junta presses ahead with a staggered vote, widely criticized as
00:14a bid to legitimize army rule.
00:18Muhammad said while some individual ASEAN members may choose to engage with the poll,
00:23the regional bloc as a whole will not lend it legitimacy.
00:26Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power in a coup in 2021,
00:32ousting an elected civilian government and sparking a nationwide conflict.
00:37The army has promoted the ongoing three-stage election as a step towards stability,
00:42but the United Nations, Western governments and rights groups have called it a sham,
00:47designed to entrench military control through proxy parties.
00:50ASEAN has previously called for an end to violence in Myanmar under its five-point consensus.
00:56which includes dialogue among all parties and the delivery of humanitarian aid.
01:01However, the junta has made little progress on those commitments,
01:05leading ASEAN to bar Myanmar's military leaders from high-level meetings.
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