Senior General Min Aung Hlaing has acknowledged that ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar could not be implemented last year, with the coup leader citing the Covid-19 pandemic and political instability in the war-torn Southeast Asian nation.

Myanmar’s self-appointed prime minister as well, Min Aung Hlaing made the remarks in an address on August 1 marking the regime’s 18-month grip on power.

“During the past year, Myanmar has suffered severely from the second and third waves of the Covid-19 pandemic, and we have struggled hard to overcome the epidemic and dealing with domestic unrest and protest violence. It has been difficult to implement the Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar due to the instability of the country,” said the junta chief, who seized power from an elected civilian government led by the National League for Democracy (NLD) on February 1, 2021.

As the political situation improves this year, the Five-Point Consensus on Myanmar will be prioritised and action will be taken to prevent challenges to the country’s sovereignty, including internal affairs and administration, Min Aung Hlaing said. He added that as the political situation normalises, there will be improvements.

But U Pe Than, an Arakanese politician, said: “He [Min Aung Hlaing] said that ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus could not be implemented because of other issues, but actually the dialogue is a positive trend. I see that giving the excuse that ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus could not be achieved because of the Covid-19 epidemic is not correct. This is not a meaningful excuse. [It is] because the military junta doesn’t want to hold talks with its political opponents.”

ASEAN’s Five-Point Consensus, which calls for, among other things, an immediate cessation of violence and constructive dialogue among all stakeholders, was adopted by ASEAN leaders and the junta chief on April 24, 2021. Myanmar has been ravaged by conflict between junta forces and anti-regime armed resistance groups in the months since, with little indication of either side ceding ground in the fight for control of the country.