Former foreign ministers and ex-UN experts issued a statement urging ASEAN to abandon the Five-Point Consensus and instead adopt firm measures against Myanmar after the military regime exploited ASEAN's patience as a pretext to intensify its crackdown on civilians.
On 8 May 2026, the Irrawaddy news agency reported that the Special Advisory Council for Myanmar (SAC-M), composed of former foreign ministers and ex-United Nations experts, released a statement calling on ASEAN during the 48th ASEAN Summit in Cebu, Philippines, to end the use of the Five-Point Consensus regarding Myanmar and push for stronger measures against General Min Aung Hlaing's military government.
The statement said that the Myanmar military has used ASEAN's restraint as a means to legitimize itself while simultaneously escalating violence against civilians. Myanmar has embarrassed ASEAN for years, and ASEAN should acknowledge that the military government will never change its behavior. The statement also pointed out that Min Aung Hlaing has repeatedly violated the Five-Point Consensus endorsed by ASEAN in April 2021.
The statement’s signatories include Kasit Piromya, former Thai foreign minister; Syed Hamid Albar, former Malaysian foreign minister; Leila de Lima, former Philippine senator; and three former UN Myanmar experts.
Additionally, the statement noted recent actions by the military government, such as heavily criticized elections and reports that Aung San Suu Kyi was moved from solitary confinement to a new detention facility, as half-measures aimed at gaining international legitimacy without genuine change.
The statement called on ASEAN, under the chairmanship of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., to extend measures barring military government representatives from attending ASEAN meetings at all levels, from leaders to operational officials, to block the military regime’s political legitimacy.
/source Irrawaddy news