Joint Statement: ASEAN’s Denouncement of the Junta’s Sham Election and Admission of Timor-Leste Are Principled, Critical Steps Forward
On 11 July 2025, ASEAN announced its position that the Myanmar military junta’s so-called election “is not a priority” and “will not solve any problems, but instead will worsen conditions.” We—the undersigned 237 Myanmar, regional, and international civil society organizations—acknowledge this clear condemnation by ASEAN of the junta’s plan to hold a sham election as a step in the right direction. We also welcome ASEAN’s firm stance in supporting Timor-Leste’s official admission to the bloc at the ASEAN Summit this October, which is a defiant rejection of the junta’s bullying tactics and its false claims to state authority.
As this year’s ASEAN Chair, Malaysia took a principled and critical step by taking this long- overdue position—an unequivocal denouncement of the junta’s sham election—on behalf of ASEAN. This marks a significant shift in the bloc’s stance towards a more assertive and responsible approach to the Myanmar crisis, a step we hope will be followed by further decisive actions ahead of the ASEAN Summit in October.
It is undeniable that the junta has neither the legal nor political legitimacy to hold an election. The junta also lacks the effective territorial and administrative control necessary to do so, as Myanmar’s democratic resistance forces, including the National Unity Government (NUG) and ethnic federal units, advance their effective control across the country. The junta’s sham election is a deliberate attempt to fabricate a façade of legitimacy and reinforce military tyranny, undermining the democratic aspirations of the Myanmar people and perpetuating cycles of violence.
As we have repeatedly called on ASEAN to publicly denounce and end all support for the junta’s planned sham election, we take serious note of ASEAN’s decisive condemnation of this so-called vote. Moving forward, we call on ASEAN to reinforce this position during its Summit in October with a concrete, time-bound action plan in support of the Myanmar people’s efforts to achieve a peaceful and sustainable future.
Furthermore, ASEAN demonstrated sound political judgment in highlighting the junta’s violent attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure. We welcome this principled position, which is a fundamental step towards addressing the root cause of Myanmar’s worsening polycrisis: the Myanmar military.
We further welcome ASEAN’s support of Timor-Leste’s accession to the bloc, in defiance of the illegal junta’s bullying tactics against Timor-Leste’s full ASEAN membership. The decision by ASEAN to move forward with Timor-Leste’s accession this October is a clear rejection of the Myanmar military’s illegitimate claims to state authority. The junta has repeatedly attempted to obstruct Timor-Leste’s entry—most recently by submitting a letter to Malaysia urging the ASEAN Secretariat to suspend all admissions procedures. This follows Timor-Leste’s unwavering stance against the junta’s atrocities, including Prime Minister Xanana Gusmão’s powerful speech denouncing the junta in 2023, President Ramos-Horta’s engagements with the NUG, and the junta’s retaliatory expulsion of Timorese diplomats from Myanmar. ASEAN’s
rejection of the junta’s bullying tactics is not only a welcome gesture of solidarity with Timor- Leste, but also an affirmation that the illegal junta is not recognized as the legitimate state representative of Myanmar. We stand in steadfast solidarity with Timor-Leste—an active and principled supporter of the Myanmar people’s democracy-building efforts—as the country becomes ASEAN’s 11th Member State.
However, we continue to be deeply disappointed by ASEAN’s ongoing reliance on its failed Five-Point Consensus (5PC)—which “remains [ASEAN’s] main reference to address the political crisis in Myanmar,” according to the Joint Communiqué of the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting, dated 9 July 2025. ASEAN must be reminded that the military junta has actively disregarded the dead-on-arrival 5PC since its creation through the repeated commission of atrocity crimes. No true progress on the 5PC—much less the full implementation thereof—will ever be possible, as the military has no genuine will for peace.
We, once again, urge ASEAN to move beyond the failed 5PC and unequivocally support the Myanmar people’s goals to fully dismantle military tyranny and establish an inclusive federal democracy. To do so, ASEAN and its Member States must cease all engagements with and support to the military junta. Any engagement with or support to the junta only emboldens its violence and deepens ASEAN’s complicity in its atrocity crimes against the people of Myanmar. Instead, ASEAN must engage formally and meaningfully with Myanmar’s democracy stakeholders and legitimate representatives to support the Myanmar people’s immense, ongoing efforts to build democracy from the ground up for a peaceful and sustainable future.
We consider ASEAN’s denouncement of the junta’s sham election at the 58th ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting and ASEAN’s upcoming admission of Timor-Leste to the bloc, in defiance of the junta’s bullying tactics, as clear signals of the bloc’s commitment to taking a firmer and more principled stance against the murderous junta. ASEAN must be held to this commitment. Now is the time for ASEAN to stand firmly with the people of Myanmar and take decisive, meaningful action to support their collective aspirations and determination for federal democracy and sustainable peace.
Signed by 237 civil society organizations, including 11 organizations that have chosen not to disclose their name.