Myanmar has been ravaged by conflict since the military staged a coup against a civilian government in 2021. 

The election, which began in December last year, has been criticised by the United Nations, many Western countries and rights groups as a ploy to legitimise military rule through political proxies - a charge the junta has denied. 

In a low turnout, voters cast their ballots in the second stage of the poll earlier this month, with the military-allied Union Solidarity and Development Party leading after securing 88 percent of the lower house seats contested over the first phase. 

Speaking in parliament, Minister Mohamad Hasan said ASEAN had rejected a request from Myanmar to send election observers during the annual leaders' summit in Kuala Lumpur last year, though some individual member states had decided to do so on their own. 

"We have said that ASEAN will not send observers, and by virtue of that, we will not certify the poll," Hasan said in response to a question from another lawmaker about Malaysia and ASEAN's position on the election. 

Separately, Hasan also said ASEAN was in the final stages of concluding a long-proposed code of conduct with Beijing this year concerning activities in the South China Sea.

"We hope we are able to do it by this year," he said. 

ASEAN and China pledged in 2002 to create a code of conduct but took 15 years to start discussions, and progress has been slow.

Beijing claims sovereignty over most of the South China Sea, including parts of the 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zones of the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, Taiwan and Vietnam, complicating fishing and energy exploration activities by those countries. 

Late last  year, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said ASEAN will assess developments in Myanmar following the first phase of elections and avoid actions that would "confer premature legitimacy" to any party.

Anwar -- whose country holds the rotating chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) until the end of 2025  -- said leaders from the 11-nation regional bloc which includes Myanmar would continue to "consider developments with care, including steps underway relating to the political process" in Myanmar.

"Any assessment will proceed in a sequenced manner, guided by the need to reduce violence, avoid actions that could deepen divisions or confer premature legitimacy, and preserve the possibility of an inclusive and credible pathway forward," he told reporters.

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