Myanmar junta rejects ASEAN call to free Suu Kyi, questions envoy role

Myanmar's military government has formally rejected the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' renewed demand for the unconditional release of detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi. In a statement issued late Saturday, the foreign ministry also questioned the necessity of the bloc's special envoy on Myanmar, signaling a further rift with the regional grouping.

The ministry argued that while Suu Kyi's sentences were commuted on humanitarian grounds, a full release could only be considered within the bounds of the law. Suu Kyi, 81, has been held incommunicado since the 2021 coup, though last week she received a visit from a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross — her first known contact with an outside humanitarian body in five years.

ASEAN has repeatedly urged the junta to implement a five-point peace plan agreed in April 2021, which calls for an end to violence and dialogue among all parties. The bloc has barred junta leader Min Aung Hlaing from its summits over his failure to comply. The current ASEAN chair, the Philippines, welcomed the Red Cross visit as a step toward dialogue but reiterated its call for Suu Kyi's complete release.

Myanmar's foreign ministry said it would cooperate with the current envoy, Philippine Foreign Minister Maria Theresa Lazaro, but saw no need to continue the arrangement when Singapore assumes the ASEAN chair in January 2027. The statement also defended the junta's legitimacy, claiming it emerged from multiparty elections held in December and January — a vote widely dismissed by critics as a sham designed to entrench military rule.

Min Aung Hlaing, who seized power from Suu Kyi's elected government in 2021, has been seeking international recognition and has dismissed ASEAN's peace plan as discriminatory. The latest rebuff underscores the deepening impasse between the junta and the regional bloc over the country's political crisis.