The CSOs released a joint statement on Monday, urging ASEAN to move beyond the Five-Point Consensus to achieve a Myanmar people-led and people-centred solution to the crisis in Myanmar.

DMG Newsroom
18 December 2024, Mrauk-U

A total of 260 civil society organisations (CSOs) have urged ASEAN to stop pressuring revolutionary forces and civil society groups fighting against the military dictatorship to engage or compromise with the junta.

The CSOs released a joint statement on Monday, urging ASEAN to move beyond the Five-Point Consensus to achieve a Myanmar people-led and people-centred solution to the crisis in Myanmar.

ASEAN’s Myanmar-owned and -led approach must be backed by genuine political will that aligns with and supports the collective aspirations of the Myanmar people, the CSOs said.

They called on ASEAN to only support a locally led political consultation process that entirely excludes the junta.

One political observer remarked: “The ASEAN Five-Point Consensus did not work. It failed to pressure the regime effectively. ASEAN must adopt a more pragmatic approach.”

The Myanmar military’s 2021 coup triggered a popular armed revolt. After losing large swaths of territory over the past year, the regime has sought help from China to implement an election plan as a way out of the current political crisis.

Some ASEAN countries have expressed support for the junta’s planned poll as a potential way to end the armed conflicts in Myanmar.

But the CSOs have called on ASEAN countries to publicly denounce and end all support for or plans to support the junta’s “sham election.”

They also urged ASEAN to end all engagements including economic and military engagements with the junta and engage formally with the legitimate representatives of Myanmar.

“ASEAN’s actions regarding Myanmar’s political situation are not satisfactory,” said DMG editor-in-chief U Aung Marm Oo. “Those leading ASEAN have not exerted sufficient pressure or taken firm actions. They try to avoid intervening in domestic affairs. However, countries like Singapore and Indonesia have made firm statements on some issues. The lack of strong, collective action from all 10 ASEAN countries is a weakness.”

Nearly four years after the coup, anti-regime groups have captured 86 towns from the regime as much of the country remains engulfed in a civil war.

Political observers say Myanmar cannot rely on ASEAN to resolve the crisis as the regional grouping has failed to pressure the regime to implement the Five-Point Consensus adopted a few months after the coup.

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