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 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.

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

The bloc says that any poll must be “inclusive,” but it has limited power to deter the junta from its election plans.

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.

LANGKAWI, Malaysia - Myanmar’s military government was on Jan 19 told by Asean foreign ministers to prioritise an end to the fighting in its country over the holding of an election this year, the bloc’s chair Malaysia said.