By MPA
YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar’s military regime has signaled a potential formal retreat from ASEAN’s landmark Five-Point Consensus (5PC), alleging that the 2021 peace blueprint lacked true regional consensus and claiming its newly formed parliament has mandated a complete policy review.
The official stance was delivered by the regime’s Foreign Minister during an informal ASEAN Foreign Ministers’ Meeting held in Bangkok on 12 July 2026, following recent parliamentary resolutions passed in Naypyidaw.
According to a formal statement released by the junta’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the military council continues to challenge the procedural legitimacy of the Five-Point Consensus adopted in Jakarta on 24 April 2021. The regime claimed the annex to the ASEAN Chair’s statement was attached without prior draft coordination or the consent of Myanmar, asserting it never reflected a genuine “ASEAN Consensus.”
The regime’s diplomatic maneuvering follows a series of tightly controlled elections staged across military-held areas between December 2025 and January 2026, which led to the convening of a junta-aligned Union Parliament (Pyidaungsu Hluttaw).
The foreign ministry disclosed that on 9 July 2026, the legislature formally adopted an urgent motion determining that the Five-Point Consensus “contradicts foundational ASEAN principles and fails to align with Myanmar’s current political realities,” officially requesting the executive branch to review and alter its implementation.
Speaking at the Bangkok ministerial session, the junta’s representative insisted that the military administration is legally bound to comply with the decisions of its newly established parliament.
“Myanmar will pursue a Myanmar-led and Myanmar-owned approach to normalize ties with ASEAN while defending its national interests and national sovereignty,” the regime’s foreign minister informed regional counterparts, reiterating that any regional cooperation must adhere to non-interference principles embedded in the ASEAN Charter.
Diplomatic monitors note that the regime’s attempt to rewrite its commitment to the 5PC represents a calculated effort to force international recognition of its post-election administrative structure.
By framing its refusal to comply with ASEAN demands as a matter of “respecting parliamentary democracy,” Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s administration is seeking to dismantle the primary international framework used to isolate the regime since the February 2021 coup.
However, independent analysts highlight that ASEAN member states and international watchgroups remain deeply skeptical.
Despite the junta’s claims of an “elected parliament,” broad opposition forces, including the National League for Democracy (NLD) and the National Unity Government (NUG), have dismissed the elections as a fraudulent sham staged amid ongoing warfare.
With regional diplomats continuing to press for an immediate end to aerial bombardments and the unconditional release of all political prisoners—including Daw Aung San Suu Kyi—Naypyidaw’s formal pushback against the Five-Point Consensus is set to deepen the diplomatic stalemate between the isolated military council and its Southeast Asian neighbors.
