Myanmar has been in turmoil since 2021 when its military overthrew the government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.

Despite Asean’s call to prioritise peace over a sham election, Myanmar’s military rulers appear bent on clinging to power no matter the cost.

The Myanmar military seized power in February 2021 ... But we told them that election is not a priority at the moment," Malaysian Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan told reporters after the meeting of ASEAN foreign ministers on the Malaysian island of Langkawi.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers are gathering for their first meeting this year under the regional bloc’s new chair, Malaysia, seeking a breakthrough over Myanmar’s drawn-out civil war and territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

Malaysia has appointed a new ASEAN special envoy to Myanmar to try and implement the regional bloc’s stalled peace plan for the war-torn country.

The bloc says that any poll must be “inclusive,” but it has limited power to deter the junta from its election plans.

Malaysian diplomat Othman Hashim faces the weary task of engaging the junta and persuading it to abide by a Five-Point Consensus ASEAN drew up after the coup.

After three years of failed diplomacy, the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) has upped the ante and warned the military junta in Myanmar to end the civil war and allow the free flow of much-needed humanitarian aid.

ASEAN has urged Myanmar's military government to prioritize ceasing hostilities and initiating dialogue over organizing elections amid ongoing civil war. Malaysia's foreign minister emphasized the need for unrestricted humanitarian access and stressed adherence to ASEAN's peace plan.

Malaysian Foreign Minister Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan announced his appointment at the closed-door meeting of the ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ (AMM) Retreat here Sunday. “I would like to take this opportunity to formally inform of the appointment of Tan Sri Othman Hashim as the Special Envoy of the ASEAN Chair on Myanmar.

Foreign minister Mohamad Hasan says it is Myanmar's obligation, as a member of Asean, to fulfil a ceasefire agreement.

ASEAN's fifth envoy to Myanmar, Tan Sri Othman Hashim, appointed during the bloc's meeting of foreign ministers.