Myanmar under the military regime won’t take its turn holding the rotating chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in 2026 due to the ongoing internal military conflict and humanitarian crisis sparked by the military coup in 2021.
Citing diplomatic sources with ties to the regional bloc, both Thai PBS and Nikkei Asia reported that the chair will be held by the Philippines during that year, with Myanmar now scheduled to assume the role the following year. As the regime has so far been silent on the issue, it was unclear whether Naypyitaw or ASEAN initiated the move.
The chair is currently held by Indonesia, which will be succeeded by Laos next year and Malaysia in 2025.
Relations between the country’s ruling generals and the regional grouping turned sour following the coup and the generals’ failure to honor the bloc’s peace plan for the country. As a result, in an unprecedented move, the bloc has banned the regime’s leadership from its summits since late 2021.
Since the coup, the regime has faced widespread armed resistance across the country. It is still struggling to assert control in many areas despite its heavy-handed response to the resistance, which has included air strikes. At the same time, Naypyitaw is struggling to cope with a myriad of economic and social problems.
Last month, the junta extended emergency rule in the country for another six months, citing instability. It has not been able to set a date for an election it has promised.
It would not be the first time Myanmar has skipped the ASEAN chairmanship since joining the bloc in 1997 while under the previous military dictatorship. Its chairmanship was postponed in 2006 due to domestic problems.
It assumed the chairmanship for the first time in 2014 during a period of quasi-civilian rule.
The ASEAN Charter stipulates that the bloc’s chairmanship shall rotate annually, based on the alphabetical order of the English names of member states.
The holder of the rotating chair organizes the ASEAN Summit and related summits, the ASEAN Coordinating Council, the three ASEAN Community Councils, relevant ASEAN Sectoral Ministerial Bodies and the Committee of Permanent Representatives.
The ASEAN chair’s diplomatic responsibilities, which include hosting the East Asia Summit and other meetings attended by countries from beyond the region including the US, China and Japan, have raised fears that a Myanmar chairmanship could lead to diplomatic incidents and exacerbate global tensions.
