“The pro-democracy group [NLD] that won the previous election won big, but before they could convene Parliament, the junta took over power… therefore, it is completely illogical for Malaysia and ASEAN to support the election,” Malaysian Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah told a Facebook Live virtual press conference on Monday 21 November 2022 according to Malaysian news agency Bernama.

Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah’s rejection of the planned election comes as the junta gears up for the polls, attempting to compile voter lists and talking of changing existing voting systems at a time of widespread conflict.

Malaysia is taking a leading role in ASEAN on the question of Myanmar and is among nations advocating talks with pro-democracy forces like the NUG.

As well as being the first ASEAN nation to reject the planned pole, Saifuddin Abdullah was also the first Foreign Minister to openly engage with the NUG.

At its summit last week, ASEAN agreed on additional measures for the implementation of its Five-Point Consensus peace plan and engagement with all stakeholders – opening the path forwards to talks with representatives of the NUG.

Implications

Malaysia leading role within ASEAN on the issue of Myanmar seems to recognise that the sham elections proposed by the junta will not lead to stability in Myanmar. As described in our article on the use of human rights abuses to win the election, the junta’s strategy miscalculates that attempting to force through a sham election will not be accepted by the people of Myanmar who have steadfastly refused to accept the coup.

The only course open for the junta is to stop their crimes against humanity, and hand back power to the civilian government which won the 2020 election.