Myanmar’s junta-appointed foreign minister briefed officials from five neighbouring countries on the military’s repeatedly delayed plans to hold elections, Thailand’s foreign minister said on Thursday.
The Myanmar military seized power in 2021, making unsubstantiated claims of massive electoral fraud in 2020 polls won resoundingly by the Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD).
It has since unleashed a bloody crackdown on dissent and, as fighting ravages swathes of the country, has repeatedly delayed plans for fresh polls that critics say will be neither free nor fair.
Junta-appointed foreign minister Than Swe met diplomats from China, India, Bangladesh, Laos and Thailand for an “informal consultation”, Thai foreign ministry spokesman Nikorndej Balankura told reporters.
Myanmar “outlined very broadly that progress is being made towards an election” in 2025, he said, adding that no details, including an exact date, were discussed.
The talks. . .
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