Myanmar’s junta says Malaysia to send observers for contentious polls

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(Reuters) -Malaysia will send observer teams for Myanmar’s contentious general election, set to be held in phases from December 28, state media said on Friday, a day after talks between the leader of the ruling junta and Kuala Lumpur’s top diplomat.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since a 2021 military coup that overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and triggered an armed rebellion that has led to large parts of the country slipping out of the junta’s control.

“He advised that the election should be all-inclusive and vowed to send election observation teams to Myanmar,” the Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper said, referring to Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan.

The comment came after Mohamad met junta chief Min Aung Hlaing met in Myanmar’s capital of Naypyitaw on Thursday, weeks ahead of an October summit of the regional Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Malaysia’s foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment on the Myanmar state media report.

It made no mention of Malaysian election observers in a social media post that said, “The upcoming elections in Myanmar were also discussed.”

Mohamad and Min Aung Hlaing discussed implementing ASEAN’s peace plan, including halting violence, expanding humanitarian assistance and holding talks, the ministry added.

Malaysia and Myanmar are both members of ASEAN, which has barred the latter’s military leaders from its meetings since 2022, citing their failure to adopt a five-point peace roadmap the top general had agreed to, after a coup the previous year.

Critics and many Western nations view the coming general elections as a sham exercise designed to solidify and legitimise the military’s rule via proxy political parties.

The ballot will be held amid a bitter civil war, with key opposition groups banned and new electoral laws that favour parties backed by the military.

In the fray will be 57 political parties that have registered for the polls, six of which plan to compete nationwide, state media have said.

In remarks after a January ASEAN meeting on Malaysia’s island of Langkawi, Mohamad had said the grouping told Myanmar’s junta that an election should not be its priority, and urged instead for dialogue and an end to fighting.

(Reporting by Naw Betty Han; Additional reporting by Rozanna Latiff; Editing by Devjyot Ghoshal and Clarence Fernandez)