By Mikhail Flores
CEBU, Philippines, Jan 29 (Reuters) – Myanmar’s Southeast Asian neighbours should adopt a “calibrated engagement” with its military-controlled post-election government while still pressing for an end to conflict, Thailand said on Thursday, signalling a possible softening in stance.
At a meeting of foreign ministers from the 11-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations, hosts and chair the Philippines also said the bloc saw some potential positives in the vote even if it did not endorse it.
Myanmar’s military-backed Union Solidarity and Development Party is set to lead government after winning the poll held over three rounds on December 28, January 11 and January 25 that was not contested by opposition groups amid a civil war triggered by a 2021 coup.
With rights groups, the U.N. and the UK denouncing the vote as a sham to perpetuate the military’s grip, junta chief Min Aung Hlaing said the people’s vote provided legitimacy, regardless of international postures.
Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow told Reuters that despite ASEAN’s bar on Myanmar’s military leaders since 2022, the vote may lead to engagement if some requirements are met like expanding aid access and reducing violence.
“We think that we have to engage with the regime in Naypyitaw, the new one. They’re going to form a government probably in March,” Sihasak said in the interview on the sidelines of the meeting, adding that hopefully Myanmar would respond with positive steps.
“We don’t anticipate Myanmar returning (to ASEAN) right away. So that’s why we’re proposing that there’ll be a sort of calibrated re-engagement where we have benchmarks.”
TURMOIL SINCE 2021
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the 2021 overthrow of the elected civilian government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, triggering pro‑democracy protests that morphed into a widening armed rebellion that has taken over swathes of the country.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Ma. Theresa Lazaro told a press conference after the ministerial retreat that some ASEAN members were still looking into the results of the election.
“It’s not an expression of support, but with a view that these elections might be something positive,” Lazaro said.
ASEAN’s engagement with Myanmar remains guided by the “five-point consensus” that includes a cessation of violence, dialogue among concerned parties and provision of humanitarian assistance, the official added.
While reaffirming ASEAN’s call for a free, fair and inclusive election, “even a certain compliance in the implementation of the Five‑Point Consensus is something that will make things move,” Lazaro said.
The Philippines recently hosted a dialogue among opponents of Myanmar’s ruling junta to try and assist dialogue and aid.
Lazaro also said the Philippines will push to finish this year a long-delayed code of conduct for the South China Sea, where Manila and Beijing dispute some territory.
(Reporting by Mikhail Flores; Additional reporting by Karen Lema in Manila; Editing by David Stanway and Andrew Cawthorne)
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