COMMENT | Credit where it’s due: Prime Minister and Asean chairperson Anwar Ibrahim succeeded in bringing world leaders together for this year’s Asean Summit.

The setting is dignified, the speeches impeccably worded, the declarations polished to perfection. For a few days, the region’s political elite can bask in the glow of multilateral choreography.

But beneath the shine of summitry lies a truth that no communiqué can disguise: Myanmar is burning, and Asean is pretending not to smell the smoke.

The official line remains unchanged, as if scripted by muscle memory. Elections in Myanmar, we are told, must come after the Five-Point Consensus - a ceasefire, humanitarian access, and inclusive dialogue.

Lofty in principle, but entirely divorced from reality. Since the consensus was announced in 2021, every one of its points has been violated repeatedly, and often in the full glare of Asean’s silence.