ASEAN to stick to Myanmar peace plan despite its failure to stop deadly civil war

CEBU, Philippines — A peace plan agreed on by Southeast Asian leaders five years ago has failed to end Myanmar's civil war but it could still serve as a basis for working with the new government that will emerge from recent elections there, Thailand's top diplomat said Friday.

The nationwide violence that followed the Myanmar army's forcible seizure of power from Aung San Suu Kyi's elected government in February 2021 has become one of the biggest challenges and sources of embarrassment for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

The 2021 army takeover was met by widespread protests which were violently put down by the army, leading to armed resistance and brutal fighting all over the country.

Thai Foreign Minister Sihasak Phuangketkeow told The Associated Press in an interview that ASEAN's ''five-point consensus'' plan has failed to halt the violence in Myanmar.

ASEAN, however, could try to re-engage with Myanmar's new leaders who would emerge from recently held elections, which could be a "new starting point for continued efforts on dialogue, reconciliation and as a part of a broader peace process,'' Sihasak said.

''We don't seek to isolate Myanmar,'' he said. ''We seek to bring Myanmar back to the ASEAN family.''

The peace plan — agreed on by ASEAN heads of state in April 2021 — called for an immediate end to fighting and hostilities, dialogue among all parties that a special envoy of the bloc would help initiate, and the delivery of humanitarian aid.

If there would be moves to deescalate the tensions and violence, ''we can re-engage with Myanmar more,'' possibly by gradually lifting a restriction on the attendance of its political delegates to annual ASEAN meetings, Sihasak said.

''Maybe to some degree, they can start to deescalate the violence. First, avoid attacks against civilians and also avoid the use of air attacks, which really affect civilians … these are the benchmarks for us,'' he added.

On Thursday, ASEAN's foreign ministers, in their first major meeting this year in the central seaside city of Cebu in the Philippines, decided to stick with the peace plan.

''We all reaffirmed that the five-point consensus remains the basis of our collective efforts to address and resolve the crisis in Myanmar,'' Sihasak said. ''We don't seek to isolate Myanmar. We seek to bring Myanmar back to the ASEAN family.''

The still-unofficial results of the new polls give the pro-military Union Solidarity and Development Party a large majority of the seats contested, and assure the military, which is automatically granted 25% of the legislative seats, retains control over the government.

ASEAN has not recognize Myanmar's elections, the first since the army's 2021 takeover, Philippine Foreign Secretary Theresa Lazaro said Thursday. The Philippines is this year's ASEAN chair, giving it the most influential voice.

Lazaro told reporters Thursday that ASEAN ''has not endorsed the three phases of the elections that were held''over December and January in Myanmar and did not explain what could change the bloc's stance.

Critics say the election was neither free nor fair. Opponents were arrested and Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy party, which won a landslide victory in 2020, was dissolved by the military government in 2023 for refusing to register under conditions it rejected.

Sihasak told The AP that in a recent meeting with officials in Myanmar, he renewed a proposal for Suu Kyi, 80, to be moved from detention to house arrest to give her more access to doctors.

''It's a good humanitarian gesture that will be well-received by the international community,'' Sihasak said.