UPDATE 1-ASEAN to discuss Myanmar election observers at October summit

(Updates October 10 story with Malaysian statement) KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 (Reuters) – Myanmar's junta has invited the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to send observers for planned year-end elections, and the bloc will discuss the request during a regional summit later this month, Malaysia's foreign ministry has said. The invitation to send election observers was extended to all ASEAN member states, the ministry said in a statement on Friday night. "The foreign minister noted the invitation extended to ASEAN member states to send election observers. For Malaysia, the invitation was addressed to Malaysia's Election Commission," the ministry said. The statement did not refer to reports in Myanmar's state media on Friday that Malaysia will send observer teams for the contentious general election, set to be held in phases starting December 28. The announcement came after talks were held between Myanmar's junta chief Min Aung Hlaing and Malaysia's Foreign Minister Mohamad Hasan in Myanmar's capital of Naypyitaw on Thursday. Critics and many Western nations view the election as a sham exercise designed to legitimise the military's rule via proxy political parties. Myanmar has been in turmoil since a 2021 military coup that overthrew the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi and triggered an armed rebellion that has led to large parts of the country slipping out of the junta's control. Malaysia and Myanmar are both members of ASEAN, which has barred the latter's military leaders from its meetings since 2022, citing their failure to adopt a five-point peace roadmap the top general had agreed to. Malaysia is the current chair of ASEAN, which also includes Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Myanmar's ballot will be held amid a bitter civil war, with key opposition groups banned and new electoral laws that favour parties backed by the military. In the fray will be 57 political parties that have registered for the polls, six of which plan to compete nationwide, state media have said. In remarks after a January ASEAN meeting on Malaysia's island of Langkawi, Mohamad had said the grouping told Myanmar's junta that an election should not be its priority, and urged instead for dialogue and an end to fighting. (Reporting by Naw Betty Han; Additional reporting by Rozanna Latiff and Ashley Tang; Editing by Devjyot Ghoshal, Clarence Fernandez and Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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