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

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

Southeast Asian foreign ministers told Myanmar's military government to prioritize a ceasefire in its civil war over fresh elections during a meeting in Malaysia on Sunday. Myanmar's armed forces seized power in February 2021 on unsubstantiated claims of massive electoral fraud in 2020 polls won resoundingly by the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.