Malaysia has appointed a new ASEAN special envoy to Myanmar to try and implement the regional bloc’s stalled peace plan for the war-torn country.

Southeast Asian foreign ministers told Myanmar's military government to prioritize a ceasefire in its civil war over fresh elections during a meeting in Malaysia on Sunday. Myanmar's armed forces seized power in February 2021 on unsubstantiated claims of massive electoral fraud in 2020 polls won resoundingly by the Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy.

Southeast Asian nations told Myanmar's military government on Sunday its plan to hold an election amid an escalating civil war should not be its priority, urging the junta to start dialogue and end hostilities immediately.

ASEAN urges Myanmar's military leaders to prioritize peace over an election amid an escalating civil war :::: Langkawi, Malaysia :: Mohamad Hasan, Malaysian Foreign Minister "One thing that we know is that they want to have an election,

The regional bloc told a junta representative at a meeting that a poll is “not a priority at the moment," Malaysia’s foreign minister said.

ASEAN secretary-general Kao Kim Hourn said some of the foreign ministers on Jan. 19 also "called for the release of Madam Aung San Suu Kyi," the prominent pro-democracy figure who has been detained since the 2021 coup.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since 2021 when its military overthrew the government of Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.