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Press Statement: ASEAN’s Denouncement of the Junta’s Sham Election and Admission of Timor-Leste Are Principled, Critical Steps Forward

31 July 2025

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.

For more information, please contact:

Signed by 237 civil society organizations, including 11 organizations that have chosen not to disclose their name.

  1. 5/ of Zaya State Strike
  2. 8888 Generation (New Zealand)
  3. A New Burma (ANB)
  4. Action Committee for Democracy Development (ACDD)
  5. Ah Nah Podcast – Conversations with Myanmar
  6. Aktion Myanmar
  7. All Burma Democratic Front in New Zealand
  8. Alliance on Independent Journalists (AIJ)
  9. ALTSEAN-Burma
  10. Anti-Junta Alliance Yangon – AJAY
  11. Anti-junta Forces Coordination Committee (AFCC-Mandalay)
  12. ASEAN SOGIE Caucus (ASC)
  13. Asia Democracy Network (ADN)
  14. Asia Human Rights and Labour Advocates (AHRLA)
  15. Asia Pacific Solidarity Coalition (APSOC)
  16. Asian Cultural Forum on Development (ACFOD)
  17. Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
  18. Asian Health Institute (AHI)
  19. Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP)
  20. Association of Human Rights Defenders and Promoters (HRDP)
  21. Association of Spring Rainbow (ASR)
  22. Association Suisse-Birmanie (ASB)
  23. Athan – Freedom of Expression Activist Organization
  24. Auckland Kachin Community (New Zealand)
  25. Auckland Zomi Community
  26. Aung San Suu Kyi Park Norway
  27. Ayeyarwaddy West Development Organisation (AWDO), Magway
  28. Ayeyarwaddy West Development Organisation (AWDO), Nagphe
  29. Back Pack Health Worker Team (BPHWT)
  30. Blood Money Campaign (BMC)
  31. Board of Education, Depeyin
  32. Board of Education, Kanbalu Township
  33. Burma Action Ireland
  34. Burma Advocacy Group
  35. Burma Campaign UK
  36. Burma Canadian Network
  37. Burma Medical Association (BMA)
  38. Burmese Community Group (Manawatu, NZ)
  39. Burmese Rohingya Organisation UK (BROUK)
  40. Burmese Rohingya Welfare Organisation, New Zealand
  41. Burmese Women’s Union (BWU)
  42. Campaign for a New Myanmar
  43. Chin Community in Norway
  44. Chin Community of Auckland
  45. Chin Human Rights Organization (CHRO)
  46. Civil Information Network (CIN)
  47. Civil Rights Defenders (CRD)
  48. Commission for the Disappeared and Victims of Violence (KontraS)
  49. Creative Home (CH)
  50. CRPH Funding Ireland
  51. CRPH Support Group, Norway and members organizations
  52. CRPH, NUG Support Team in Germany
  53. CRPH & NUG Supporters Ireland
  54. Defend Myanmar Democracy (DMD)
  55. Democracy for Ethnic Minorities Organization
  56. Democratic Party for a New Society, Norway
  57. Doh Atu – Ensemble pour le Myanmar
  58. Educational Initiatives Prague
  59. Equality Myanmar (EQMM)
  60. Federal Corner
  61. Federal Myanmar Benevolence Group (New Zealand)
  62. Free Burma Campaign (South Africa) (FBC(SA))
  63. Future Light Center (FLC)
  64. General Strike Collaboration Committee (GSCC)
  65. General Strike Committee of Basic and Higher Education (GSCBHE)
  66. General Strike Coordination Body (GSCB)
  67. Generation Wave (GW)
  68. Generations’ Solidarity Coalition of Nationalities (GSCN)
  69. German Solidarity Myanmar e.V.
  70. Global Myanmar Spring Revolution
  71. Greater Equitable Measures
  72. Imparsial
  73. India for Myanmar
  74. Indonesia Legal Aid Foundation (YLBHI)
  75. Indonesian Legal Aid and Human Rights Association (PBHI)
  76. Info Birmanie
  77. Initiatives for International Dialogue (IID)
  78. International Association, Myanmar-Switzerland (IAMS)
  79. International Campaign for the Rohingya
  80. Italia-Birmania.Insieme
  81. Justice & Equality Focus (JEF)
  82. K’cho Ethnic Association (Europe)
  83. Kachin Association Norway
  84. Kachin Human Rights Watch (KHRW)
  85. Kachin Women’s Association Thailand (KWAT)
  86. Kalyanamitra Indonesia
  87. Karen Human Rights Group (KHRG)
  88. Karen Peace Support Network (KPSN)
  89. Karen Swedish Community (KSC)
  90. Karen Women’s Organization (KWO)
  91. Karenni Civil Society Network (KCSN)
  92. Karenni Human Rights Group (KnHRG)
  93. Karenni National Women’s Organization (KNWO)
  94. Karenni Society, New Zealand
  95. Keng Tung Youth
  96. Korea Myanmar Solidarity
  97. Kyae Lak Myay
  98. Kyauktada Strike Committee (KSC)
  99. La Communauté Birmane de France
  100. Maesot Social Network
  101. Magway Region Human Right Network (MHRN)
  102. Mandalay Medical Family (MFM)
  103. Mandalay Strike Force (MSF)
  104. Mandiri
  105. Metta Campaign Mandalay
  106. Mon State Development Center (MSDC)
  107. Myanmar Accountability Project (MAP)
  108. Myanmar anti-military coup movement in New Zealand
  109. Myanmar Campaign Network (Australia)
  110. Myanmar Catholic Community In Norway
  111. Myanmar Community Group Christchurch New Zealand
  112. Myanmar Community Group Dunedin New Zealand
  113. Myanmar Community in Italy
  114. Myanmar Community in Norway
  115. Myanmar Emergency Fund – Canada
  116. Myanmar Engineers – New Zealand
  117. Myanmar FoRB Network
  118. Myanmar Gonye (New Zealand)
  119. Myanmar Hindu Union
  120. Myanmar Labor Alliance (MLA)
  121. Myanmar People Alliance (Shan State)
  122. Myanmar Students’ Union in New Zealand
  123. Myanmar Tourism Committee
  124. Myanmar Women Parliamentary Network
  125. MyaYar Knowledge Tree
  126. Nelson Myanmar Community Group New Zealand
  127. Network for Human Rights Documentation – Burma (ND-Burma)
  128. New Myanmar Foundation
  129. New Rehmonnya Federated Force (NRFF)
  130. New York City Burmese Community (NYCBC)
  131. New Zealand Campaign for Myanmar
  132. New Zealand Doctors for NUG
  133. New Zealand Karen Association
  134. New Zealand Zo Community Inc.
  135. NLD Organization Committee (International) Norway
  136. No Business With Genocide
  137. Norway Matu Community
  138. Norway Rvwang Community
  139. Nyan Lynn Thit Analytica
  140. Olive organization
  141. Overseas Mon Association, New Zealand
  142. Pa-O Women’s Union (PWU)
  143. Pakokku Youth Development Council
  144. Political Prisoners Network – Myanmar (PPNM)
  145. Progressive Muslim Youth Association – PMYA
  146. Progressive Voice (PV)
  147. Pwintphyu Development Organisation (PDO)
  148. Pyithu Gonye (New Zealand)
  149. Queers of Burma Alternative (QBA)
  150. Rohingya Community in Norway
  151. Rohingya Maìyafuìnor Collaborative Network (RMCN)
  152. Rvwang Community Association (New Zealand)
  153. Save Myanmar Fundraising Group (New Zealand)
  154. Sayar Khaing Ayadaw BOE
  155. Shan Community (New Zealand)
  156. Shan MATA
  157. Sitt Nyein Pann Foundation
  158. Southeast Asia Freedom of Expression Network (SAFEnet)
  159. Southern Initiatives
  160. Southern Youth Development Organization
  161. Spring Bridge Foundation
  162. Spring Revolution Myanmar Muslim Community – SRMMC
  163. Sujata Sisters Group (NZ)
  164. Sustainability and Participation through Education and Lifelong Learning (SPELL)
  165. Thai Action Committee for Democracy in Burma (TACDB)
  166. The Alliance on Independent Journalists (AJI)
  167. The Human Rights Foundation of Monland
  168. The Ladies Organization
  169. Think Centre, Singapore
  170. S. Campaign for Burma (USCB)
  171. Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC)
  172. Volunteers in Myanmar
  173. White Coat Society Yangon – WCSY
  174. Women Advocacy Coalition – Myanmar (WAC-M)
  175. Women Alliance Burma (WAB)
  176. Women for Justice (WJ)
  177. Women Lead Resource Center (WLRC)
  178. Women’s League of Burma (WLB)
  179. Women’s Organization Of Political Prisoners (WOPP)
  180. Women’s Peace Network
  181. Yangon Deaf Group
  182. Yangon Spring Platform
  183. Youth Empowerment (YE)
  184. Youth for Democratization of Myanmar (UDM)
  185. Zayar Alinn
  186. Zomi Christian Fellowship of Norway
  187. Zomi Community Norway
  188. ကနီမြို့နယ် သပိတ်အင်အားစု
  189. ကနီမြို့နယ်ပညာရေးဘုတ်
  190. ကန့်ဘလူမြို့နယ်ပညာရေးဘုတ်
  191. ကန့်ဘလူသပိတ်ကော်မတီ
  192. ကလေးမြို့လူထုတိုက်ပွဲဦးဆောင်ကော်မတီ
  193. ချောင်းဦးမြို့နယ်လူငယ်အင်အားစုသပိတ်ကော်မတီ
  194. ဂန့်ဂေါဖွံ့ဖြိုးတိုးတက်ရေးအဖွဲ့။
  195. စစ်ကိုင်းဖက်ဒရယ်ယူနစ်၊ CDM နိုင်ငံဝန်ထမ်းများကောင်စီ၊
  196. ဆေးတက္ကသိုလ်-မန္တလေး ကျောင်းသားသမဂ္ဂတော်လှန်ရေးတပ်ဦး (UMM-SURF)
  197. တကသကျောင်းသားဟောင်းများအင်အားစု
  198. တိုင်းရင်းသားလူငယ်များအထွေထွေသပိတ်ကော်မတီ (မန္တလေး)
  199. ဒဂုံတက္ကသိုလ်ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ (ဒတကသ)
  200. ပြည်သူ့သပိတ်အင်အားစု
  201. ပုလဲလူထုသပိတ်တိုက်ပွဲဦးဆောင်ကော်မတီ
  202. ဖားကန့် – မှော်လည့်သပိတ်စစ်ကြောင်း
  203. ဘုတလင်မြို့နယ် သပိတ်အင်အားစု
  204. မကွေးလူထုတိုက်ပွဲကော်မတီ
  205. မင်းဘူးတောင်သူများအစုအဖွဲ့။
  206. မင်းလှတောင်သူများအစုအဖွဲ့။
  207. မြင်းခြံသပိတ်ကော်မတီ
  208. မြောင်မြို့နယ်လူထုသပိတ်တိုက်ပွဲဦးဆောင်ကော်မတီ
  209. မြောင်လူငယ်များကွန်ရက်
  210. မိုင်းပျဉ်းမြို့နယ် ပညာရေးဘုတ်အဖွဲ့
  211. မုံရွာ အမြင့်လမ်း သပိတ်ဦးဆောင်ကော်မတီ
  212. မုံရွာလူထုသပိတ်တိုက်ပွဲဦးဆောင်ကော်မတီ
  213. မေမြို့ပင်မအထွေထွေသပိတ်အင်အားစု
  214. ယင်းမာပင်-ဆားလင်းကြီး ရွာပေါင်းစုံသပိတ်
  215. ယိမ်းနွဲ့ပါး
  216. ယောလူထုတိုက်ပွဲကော်မတီ
  217. ရတနာပုံတက္ကသိုလ်ကျောင်းသားများသမဂ္ဂ(ရ.တ.က.သ)
  218. ရွှေဘိုလူထုသပိတ်တိုက်ပွဲကော်မတီ
  219. လက်ပံတောင်းတောင်ဒေသ အာဏာရှင်ဆန့်ကျင်ရေး သပိတ်အင်အားစု
  220. လက်ပံတောင်းတောင်ပင်မသပိတ်
  221. လိင်စိတ်ခံယူမှုကွဲပြားသူများ ကွန်ရက်
  222. ဝက်လက်မြို့နယ် လူထုသပိတ်တိုက်ပွဲဦးဆောင်ကော်မတီ
  223. သနပ္ပင်မြို့နယ်အခြေခံပညာဘုတ်
  224. သမိုင်းသယ်ဆောင်သူများ
  225. အညာပစ်တိုင်းထောင်လေးများ
  226. အရာတော်မြို့နယ် လူထုသပိတ်ဦးဆောင်ကော်မတီ

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