"1. The National Unity Government of Myanmar (NUG) has read with interest the Chairman’s Statement of the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting held at the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, on 24 April 2021, chaired by His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam.....2. As Prime Minister of an ASEAN member state, I have followed the various steps of ASEAN’s statements and actions regarding the situation in Myanmar since the unconstitutional coup of 1 February 2021. I note that the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting took the opportunity to discuss - in addition to the situation in Myanmar - other matters of regional relevance and importance, including ASEAN Community-building priorities, and recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. These priorities are also important for the plight of the people in Myanmar today. Yet ASEAN’s actions regarding Myanmar has remained in the abstract amidst the fear and terror inflicted by the military on its own people. Close to 800 have lost their lives since February 2021, and more than 3000 are under detention, including President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi.....3. In this context, I thank Their Excellencies Mr Joko Widodo, President of the Republic of Indonesia, Tan Sri Dato' Haji Mahiaddin bin Md. Yasin, Prime Minister of Malaysia, and Mr Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore, who have consistently called for release of political prisoners, reiterating this call at the recent ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting.....4. It is unfortunate that the NUG did not have the opportunity to brief our ASEAN counterparts at the recent meeting, of the daily realities that the people of Myanmar face under military rule. Instead, the State Administration Council (SAC) representative took that opportunity to seek to justify the military’s actions regarding law and order and stability in the country, when in actual fact, documented visual and reported evidence points to the contrary.....5. While the NUG deeply appreciates the support and commitment of ASEAN Member States to assist Myanmar and her people, we nevertheless remain greatly concerned that any misrepresentation of facts by the military may affect the way in which ASEAN formulates and implements the necessary follow-up actions to the Five-Point Consensus adopted by the ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting on 24 April 2021.....6. Familiar with the ASEAN Way of reaching consensus, we in the NUG understand that the Five-Point Consensus is the product of intense discussion and negotiation. We also understand that because of how Myanmar was/is represented at ASEAN meetings in the current situation, those discussions could not include the true situation and interests of the Myanmar people - which the NUG represents. As such, I wish to highlight the following clarifications, which the NUG and the Myanmar people view as important to understand the situation in Myanmar...a. The first point in the Five-Point Consensus underscores that “there shall be immediate cessation of violence in Myanmar and all parties shall exercise utmost restraint”. I wish to highlight that the violence is one-sided and committed by only one party. Since 1 February 2021, violations by using excessive or lethal force against unarmed civilians have been committed exclusively by the military. Within hours after announcement of the Five-Point Consensus, the military and police were harassing people who were banging pots and pans in protest. This is a clear contravention of the Consensus to which the purported representative of Myanmar committed...b. The second point of the Five-Point Consensus calls for “constructive dialogue among all parties concerned”. There are several stakeholders whose input is important for this constructive dialogue. I wish to urge the ASEAN delegation to engage the National Unity Government as the true representative of the people of Myanmar. I also wish to stress the importance of including representatives of the Civil Disobedience Movement (CDM) and Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs), to ensure that all voices against military rule in Myanmar are heard by our ASEAN interlocutors......7. The NUG, in the spirit of the ASEAN Way enshrined in the ASEAN Charter, stands ready to engage with the ASEAN envoy, the ASEAN Secretary-General, and other representatives of ASEAN collectively and individually, in the constructive and inclusive manner that ASEAN envisages for helping Myanmar and her people emerge from the current crisis.....8. To this end, I wish to emphasise my government’s position and recommendations on how we will engage with ASEAN on this process...a. We are encouraged by the emphasis placed on the strength of the ASEAN Community in the Chairman’s Statement of the recent ASEAN Leaders’ Meeting. The NUG echoes ASEAN’s commitment to “place people at the centre of the ASEAN Community, to fulfil their desire to live in a region of lasting peace, sustained economic growth and social progress”. We wish to remind our ASEAN counterparts that the NUG is in the most appropriate position to pursue these aims for the people of Myanmar, as the NUG is the representative government of the peoples and democratic forces in Myanmar... b. We are also heartened by ASEAN’s reaffirmation of its commitment to the principles enshrined in the ASEAN Charter. As highlighted in paragraph 2 of this statement, the coup mounted by the SAC on 1 February 2021 is unconstitutional. The NUG is concerned that ASEAN’s engagement with SAC may undermine the principle of constitutional government enshrined in the ASEAN Charter... c. We wish to work with ASEAN to ensure that the ASEAN Envoy achieves a constructive outcome in Myanmar. As one of the key stakeholders in this process, the NUG strongly recommends that ASEAN consult the NUG’s views and input on the ASEAN Envoy’s mission and mandate... d. We appreciate that ASEAN wishes to facilitate constructive dialogue among key stakeholders as part of the process. Before any constructive dialogue can take place, however, there must be an unconditional release of political prisoners including President U Win Myint and State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi... e. While the NUG welcomes ASEAN’s humanitarian assistance mission, we also wish to highlight that humanitarian assistance alone does not provide a solution to the root causes regarding the current situation in Myanmar. Therefore, we also wish to recommend that ASEAN consult with the NUG on its plans for humanitarian assistance to the Myanmar people...f. The NUG also wishes to highlight to ASEAN the important need to establish accountability mechanisms for monitoring the SAC’s compliance with the Five- Point Consensus..."