Mohamad Hasan also said the Association of Southeast Asian Nations bloc could not stop a general election in Myanmar set for December but its foreign ministers want the contest to be fair and inclusive.

ASEAN agreed on a "Five-Point Consensus" peace plan with Myanmar's top general a few months after protests against a 2021 coup morphed into a broader rebellion against military rule, but the junta has been accused of ignoring it. 

"The Five-Point Consensus is not too difficult (to implement). It would be good to have a dialogue, to allow aid to reach people and go back to dialogue with all parties," Mohamad told reporters after a meeting with his ASEAN counterparts in Kuala Lumpur ahead of a leaders summit this weekend. 

The peace plan has largely been a failure, with the military government unwilling to engage in dialogue with opponents it views as "terrorists". 

It denies Western allegations it has committed atrocities against the civilian population and insists it is committed to peace. 

The junta is holding an election over several phases from December while the civil war rages, but opposition parties have been decimated, and what remains of them have either been barred from taking part or are not willing to do so.

The election, which has been widely dismissed as a sham designed to extend military rule through proxies, will not be held nationwide due to the ongoing fighting.

"We cannot stop it but we want the elections to be fair, transparent, and inclusive," Mohamad said. 

"All the people must participate. We don't want elections where only some of the people of Myanmar can participate but the rest can't. We will discuss that and bring it to the heads of states' summit the day after tomorrow."

Last week, the European Union said it would not send observers to Myanmar's upcoming election, dismissing the vote as neither free nor fair and urging Southeast Asian nations to "push for change".

"We're calling upon all neighbouring countries, including the ASEAN countries, to really firmly push for a change of course," EU commissioner Kajsa Ollongren told AFP in an interview in Kuala Lumpur.

Myanmar junta chief Min Aung Hlaing has touted the December 28 elections as a path to reconciliation in the civil war he sparked by snatching power in a 2021 coup.

But international monitors, including a UN expert and Amnesty International, have dismissed the vote as a ploy to legitimise continuing military rule.

"As long as Myanmar is unstable, as long as it's sort of a source of instability for the whole region, it should be the number one concern... for the ASEAN countries," she said.

Ollongren's call comes ahead of a major ASEAN summit in Kuala Lumpur next week, where the issue of sending election observers to represent the 10-nation bloc is expected to be discussed.

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